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THE EMPRESS AT THE AGE OP SIXTY — JUST BEFORE HER ASSAS- 
SINATION 



THE MAETYEDOM 
OF AN EMPBESS 

With Portraits from Photographs 



^f^'tou? 



u 




1899 
HAEPER & BEOTHEES PUBLISHEES 
NEW YOEK AND LONDON 



13 "i"? 

.0% 



TWO COPJES f?EG.:iV£0. 






Copyright, 1899, by Haepee & Brothees. 



All rights reserved. 



u^^U- 



TO 

MY EMPRESS 

IN LOVING AND DEVOTED MEMORY 
OP YEAES GONE -BYE 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE EMPRESS AT THE AGE OF SIXTY — JUST BEFORE 

HER ASSASSINATION Frontispiece 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH AT THE TIME OP HIS ACCES- 
SION TO THE AUSTRIAN THRONE IN 1848 .... Facing page 22 
ARCHDUCHESS SOPHIE AND THE EMPEROR WHEN A 

BABY " 24 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN 1855 " 32 

THE EMPRESS AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-EIGHT ... " 54 

ARCHDUKE RAINER, COUSIN OF THE EMPEROR ... " 60 
THE EMPRESS AT THE TIME OF HER CORONATION 

AS QUEEN OP HUNGARY " 64 

"THE boy/' EMPRESS ELIZABETH'S FAVORITE HUNTER " 108 
THE EMPRESS AT THE AGE OP FORTY - EIGHT — IN 

COURT DRESS " 114 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN STATE ROBES AS KING OP 

HUNGARY " 126 

EMPEROR FRANZ -JOSEPH WITH THE CHILDREN OP 
niS FAVORITE DAUGHTER, ARCHDUCHESS MARIE- 
VALERIE " 158 

CROWN-PRINCE RUDOLPH— JUST BEFORE HIS DEATH . " 168 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN 1893 " 184 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN HUNTING-DRESS .... " 190 

ARCHDUKE KARL-LUDWIG, BROTHER OP THE EMPEROR " 212 

EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN 1898 ** 246 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 



CHAPTER I 

" Let them talk, let them slander, let them think what 
they please about me — I am used to it ; it does not hurt 
me as it did at first ; I do not care ! And you, my little 
girl, do not take it to heart ; do not try to fight my bat- 
tles ; do not let bitterness come into your life through 
me, for that, indeed, would give me pain." 

The Empress stopped her restless pacing up and down 
the room, and, putting her slender hands upon my shoul- 
ders, she looked deep into my eyes with those glorious 
dark-blue orbs of hers, and added, gently : 

" You are so young — hardly older than I was when 
I married. Do not allow my clouds to obscure your 
sky ; you will have enough of your own !" 

How well she understood the passionate wrath I felt 
when witnessing the continual prejudices displayed tow- 
ards her was shown clearly to me by these few words. 
I was then very young — very inexperienced, truly — but 
she was all in all to me, and the depth of my love and 
admiration for her pure, noble, peerless nature bridged 
over the difference existing in our years, and I was 
happy in the thought that already at that time I had 
become wellnigh her only confidante and truest friend. 



vf 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Perhaps it was the singular similarity of our fates 
which at first drew us so closely together — a similarity 
which arose from the sweeping contempt with which 
the haughty Viennese aristocracy had enveloped us both 
at different periods and under different circumstances ; 
probably, also, because neither of us was of what is 
^ called "royal birth," and because neither of us was 
V Austrian born. Moreover, we heartily disliked pomp 
and pageantry, the empty, vapid amusements of social 
life, with its hurry and fever, its fussing and fuming, its 
seething caldron of calumny kept boiling by malice 
and envy ; and both found no pleasure whatsoever in 
chatting and scandal-mongering with other women, pre- 
ferring horses and dogs to the compan}^ of most human 
beings ! Last, but not least, alas ! we had alike failed 
to find in matrimony what we foolishly fancied we had 
a right to expect from it, and scorned the very thought 
of seeking consolation after the fashion common to so 
many women when thus disappointed. 

Be all this as it may, we certainly breathed an at- 
mosphere of our own, and held aloof from others as 
much as possible in these years of close intimacy that 
make it possible for me to-day, now that she has gone 
to a sphere worthier of her, to give to the world the 
only true portrayal of the so much maligned and cruelly 
treated woman, who was the one faultless figure, the 
one perfect being among the past and present sover- 
eignty of Europe. 

That very morning Elizabeth had been kindly in- 
formed, by one of the good souls who formed her en- 
tourage, that her refusal to be present at the Corpus- 
Christi procession along the magnificently decorated 
streets of Vienna had given much offence, and had 
caused a renewal of the rumors long since set afloat con- 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

cerning her sanity. Of course this had only been hint- 
ed at in her presence, but she Avas far too shrewd and 
quick - witted not to have gathered instantly the true 
meaning of these veiled allusions, and she easily fore- 
saw what persecutions would follow. 

^'Cannot they leave me alone?" she continued, stamp- 
V ing her little foot impatiently. " All I ask of human- 
ity is that it should not interfere with me; and yet 
all my actions are the subject of uncharitable comment 
and of cruel criticism. Can you tell me why I should 
thus be persecuted ?" 

The face of the Empress w^as flushed with vexation, 
and her straight, exquisitely pencilled dark brows con- 
tracted ominously. 

"I am going away," she continued. "Let us be off 
to Godollo, where at least I am not continually under 
a microscope, and where I can fancy that I am a woman 
like all others, and not some extraordinary insect cre- 
ated for the malicious investigations and observations 
of the public." 

The rays of the setting sun, slanting through the tall 
windows of her bedroom, caught the bright, golden 
strains of her magnificent coronal of brown hair, and 
made a sort of halo about her head. She gazed for a 
moment at the vivid tints of the sky, and then, sighing 
wearily, she resumed her monotonous walk from one 
end of the great room to the other. 

This scene is so present to my mind, in spite of the 
many years which have elapsed since it took place, that 
when I close my eyes I seem still to see the Empress as 
she looked on that day, with the pained expression 
which did not mar the beauty of her face, but only 
emphasized the angelic suavity of her features, and 
made her look, in the trailing white draperies of her 

3 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

dinner -gown, like some creature belonging to another 
world than ours, far removed from our pett}^, narrow- 
minded, shackled sphere. 

The fair body of the Empress now lies at rest, but 
our minds are too gross to know whether her spirit is 
not still tormented by the oppressive sense of injustice 
which made her life a long martyrdom; and yet not a 
pen is grasped to vindicate her memory, not a voice 
raised to refute the inane calumnies which from start 
to finish have pursued her during the entire course of 
her career as a sovereign. I consider, therefore, that 
I am but discharging a debt of honor in placing before 
the public a true and authentic version of that career, so 
nobly accomplished, so bitterly criticised always. 

That this work is also one of love may serve to heap 
coals of fire upon the heads of those who knew her well, 
too, but who took a fiendish delight in lending color, 
by their words and attitude, to the ever-recurring and 
increasing society and press reports which strove to give 
the masses an entirely false idea of the Empress's per- 
sonality, and which mercilessly placed her in the pillory 
of an unfair and ignorant judgment. 

Amono- many other things, as I have just mentioned, 
y she was accused of having an unbalanced mind. This 
was a cruel mistake, for there was no more accomplished, 
level-headed, and sagacious woman in the length and 
breadth of Europe than she. But her horror of the 
shams and the narrow conventionalities of modern ex- 
istence made her avoid, as much as she could, the re- 
quirements of a bauble-loving, vulgar social system — 
truly an unpardonable crime in the eyes of both classes 
and masses, and one which has led society to punish it 
by screaming over the very house-tops that the Em- 
press's mind was " unbalanced." Would to Heaven that 

4 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

there were in this sad planet of ours more such " unbal- 
anced" minds and less of those who, from a worldly 
point of view, are so admirably constructed that they 
find their greatest joy in tearing to shreds whatever they 
are unable to understand — namely, that which soars so 
immensely above them ! 

The void left by her death is one which can never be 
filled. She was too perfect, too different from other 
w^omen, not to arouse the bitterest criticisms on their 
part. There were times when the temptation to cast 
off all trammels and ceremonies became too strong for 
her to withstand ; it was then that she went away on 
her long, restless travels, freeing herself thus from the 
horrible incubus of perpetual show and parade. 

Since an incurable sorrow befell her, ten years ago, 
she was almost perpetually on the wing ; the iron was 
in her soul, the knotted cords about her waist, but she 
always bore a brave countenance, for she could not en- 
dure that the world should pity her. She was never 
heard to say an unkind thing or known to do one. 
Generous to a fault, she had not a trace of selfishness 
in her grand nature, and always spared those about her 
as much as possible. But she did not understand the 
art of forgetting, of laughing and dancing when her 
heart was full of sorrow ; she did not take kindly to 
fools and their follies, and refused to make a perpetual 
show-figure of herself for the benefit of a pageant-loving 
public. Those were her crimes. How unpardonable 
they were every sensible worldling will readily under- 
stand. Her lovely face and her luminous eyes were ac- 
cused of being too sad. Alas ! it was the sadness of a 
noble nature that has borne the burden of other people's 
sins, faults, and lack of comprehension. 

She expected death at any moment, and looked upon 

5 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

it more in the light of a deliverance than in that of a 
dreaded foe. This, and this alone, brings a shade of 
comfort to the hearts of those whom she loved and who 
loved her, for now they know that at least she has in 
a measure found repose, and that the throbbing and 
aching despair which tortured the latter portion of her 
life has been lulled by the mighty hand of the Great 
Consoler. 

Cold and impassive and mute as she was believed to 
be, the Empress possessed so warm a heart, so enthusi- 
astic a soul, that when one had once succeeded in reach- 
ing her inner nature through its frigid envelope, one 
could easily imagine what the sufferings must have been 
which brought about this stifling of all outward sign of 
tenderness and emotion. To me she talked without re- 
straint, during our long rides on the Hungarian Puszta, 
our endless tramps in the mountains and forests of 
Upper Austria and Carinthia, and also at night, when 
she was supposed to have retired, and when we sat 
alone in the library, which invariably formed a portion 
of her private apartments wherever she went. Thus I 
heard wellnigh every detail of her existence, from the 
moment when, a girl of sixteen, she united herself to 
the handsome and dashing young sovereign who had 
fallen in love at first sight with her matchless beauty. 

This marriage between the ruler of a great country 
and the little daughter of the impoverished Duke Maxi- 
milian, in Bavaria, is one of the most poetical and ro- 
mantic pages of modern history. It has been often 
told, but has thereby lost none of its charm, for it is too 
sweetly quaint and unique ever to become vulgarized by 
repetition. 

Little Princess Elizabeth was literally idolized in Ba- 
varia, and to this day the peasants who hang her pict- 

6 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ure as that of a saint in all their cottages still call her 
" Unsere Kaiserin," forgetful of the fact that this title 
now belongs to the Empress of Germany. I may add 
that Emperor William and his consort are by no means 
beloved or admired in the dominions of their ally, the 
King of Bavaria. In those far-off days Elizabeth en- 
joyed an almost unlimited amount of liberty, and was 
called by everybody " The Rose of Possenhoffen," Pos- v 
senhoffen being the name of Duke Maximilian's castle 
and estate. She ran about like a young fawn, untram- 
melled and unwatched, for the Duke was by no means 
a wealthy man, and all his disposable means were lav- 
ished upon the education of his older daughters and of 
his sons, who he expected would all make brilliant mar- 
riages. And thus did lovely Princess " Cinderella " stay 
at home and roam about at her own sweet will under 
the grand old trees of the great forests, sometimes on 
the pony which was her great pride and joy and which 
rejoiced in the name of "Punch," often on foot, indulging 
her passion for wild flowers and fruit, and coming home 
with her arms full of mountain treasures, her lips stained 
by the juice of berries, which she gathered amid the 
undergrowth of the Osmunda- bushes and the trailing 
ivy, and her luxuriant hair tossed upon her shoulders, 
surrounding her entire form with a wavy cloud of 
brightness. She hunted and shot with her brothers, / 
especially with Prince Karl -Theodore, who was her ^ 
favorite. At that time the young fellow was already 
a budding philanthropist, and, with the assistance of his 
dear little sister, would attend to the ills and aches of 
the peasants, giving decided signs of the genius which 
was to make him later one of the cleverest doctors and 
oculists of our day. 
The magnificent medical establishment now managed 

7 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

by Duke Charles-Theodore is situated at Kreuth, on the 
slopes of Hohenstein, one of the Bavarian Alps, over- 
looking the lovely Tegernsee. Early in the eighth 
century the Benedictine monks, who had their head- 
quarters at Tegernsee, obtained possession of all the 
land in that neighborhood. The good fathers, skilful 
doctors in their way, were not long in discovering the 
curative qualities of the little sulphur springs on the 
Hohenstein plateau. They built by the side of it a hos- 
pital, to which the delicate members of the Order used 
to retire from time to time to recruit their strength. As 
years passed this hospital was replaced by a much larger 
one, and even up to 1803, when the Order was dissolved, 
Kreuth remained the regular health resort of the Bene- 
dictine monks. The hospital was then turned into a 
farm-house. In 1813, however, it was rebuilt by King 
Max of Bavaria, who restored the old badhaus and 
erected yet another one. So long as he lived the place 
was used as a convalescent home, and when at his death 
it passed into the hands of his widow, it was with the 
condition attached to it that a certain number of poor 
people should every year be hospitably entertained 
there. It was his wish that Kreuth should remain a 
charitable institution. 

At Meran the Duke has established also a large hos- 
pital and sanitarium, with the assistance of his sister-in- 
law. Archduchess Maria -Theresa of Austria. Indeed, 
there is no end to the good which he has done in 
every direction, and his medical and charitable labors 
are boundless. He is especially famous for the many 
cures which he has effected upon people threatened 
with blindness. 

Elizabeth was forever coming into the peasants' hom-es 
and doing them some kind turn or other. When the rain 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

and storms of November set in she would run right 
among them for shelter, and would sit down beside the 
hearth and drink a glass of milk, chatting away just as 
if she were one of themselves. Her greatest sorrow 
was that she had not much pocket-money to make her 
humble friends presents Avith, and so during the long 
winter evenings she was in the habit of making up with 
her own deft fingers some warm clothing for the many 
little children who were her dearest proteges, and all 
sorts of pretty little gifts, which are preserved as relics, 
and in some instances under glass cases, in the chalets 
which nestle around Possenhoffen. Her skill as a rider 
is proverbial in Bavaria, and the peasants still relate, 
with considerable relish, how she jumped over some 
perilous obstacles which had never been attempted by 
anybody before and have never been cleared since. 

The young girl had even then this intense love of nat- 
ure and fine scenery which distinguished her throughout 
her life. Buchensteiner, who was her favorite guide in 
later years during her long mountaineering expeditions 
in the Tyrol, said, when speaking about her : " Often, 
when I take people over the mountains, I wonder what 
they came there for. They do not seem to give the beau- 
tiful spectacle before them a thought, and the blue sky 
above their heads, as well as the green-clad slopes of the 
high hills, or the awe-inspiring abysses which yawn before 
their feet, seem to make no impression upon them. But 
when her Majesty came to some point from which there 
was a more than usually fine view to admire, my heart 
felt like bursting with joy as I watched her gazing into 
the far distance, with a look upon her face just as if she 
were inwardly praying. Once, I remember, I took her 
to a very romantically situated and lonely farm, away up 
in the mountains. This farm, though belonging to the 

9 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Crown, was in the hands of a family composed of seven 
brothers and seven sisters — this sounds like a fairy tale, 
doesn't it? but still it is so — and the mistress and man- 
ager of them all was the elder sister, a masterful kind of 
a wench, who had a will of her own and who ordered 
everybody about just as a general does his troops. It 
was on a warm summer afternoon that we reached this 
particular corner of the Tyrolese Alps, and her Majesty, 
who was tired and thirsty, sat down on a fallen tree- 
trunk to rest. The mistress of the farm, who was stand- 
ing at the door of the cow-stables, inquired if she would 
not like her to fetch out a chair; but the Empress de- 
clined this offer, and asked if she could have a glass of 
milk to drink. 

" ' Milk is not good for you, you are too warm,' re- 
plied the ' Sennerin,' and running into the house she 
soon came back with a stone bottle and a glass, into 
which she poured some 'Kirschwasser!' This made the 
Empress laugh, and giving me the glass to drink, she 
again asked for some milk, and followed the girl into 
the stable to watch her milk a fine black cow, for, accord- 
ing to the ' Sennerin,' ' Cold milk would not do at all, but 
newly drawn would not hurt !' She stood looking at her 
visitor while the latter drank the large bowlful provided 
for her; and when, after thanking her before proceeding 
upon her walk, the Empress handed her a gold piece, 
the ' Sennerin,' amazed at the amount paid for such a 
homely luxury, turned to me and whispered, ' "Who is 
she, to give so much for a mouthful of milk?' 'The 
Empress,' I chuckled. 'The blessing of the saints be 
on us !' exclaimed the startled girl. ' What, the Em- 
press! and I let her pay for the milk, although the 
farm and the cows and everything around here belong 
to her?' 

10 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Then glancing after the slender, black-robed figure 
which was beginning to disappear under the drooping 
boughs of the pine-trees, she continued : ' That's a piece 
of money I'll never spend. I'll bore a hole through it 
and wear it round my neck, for I know it will bring me 
good luck.' " 

For many years the Empress revisited her old home 
at Possenhoffen every summer, and, when there, resumed 
her wanderings in forest and on mountain and her visits 
to the peasants, just as if she had not changed her posi- 
tion as a poor little princess for the rank and status of 
a great and powerful empress. She used to say that 
she was never so happy as when in Bavaria, and the 
good people there declare to this day that had she 
come to take up her abode in their midst after the 
tragedy of Mayerling, which so completely broke her 
heart, she would have found consolation, and would not 
have become, as she did, a wanderer on the face of the 
earth in search of change from the monotony of her ever- 
lasting sufferings. 

Nevertheless, after the catastrophe which brought 
about the death of her cousin, Kmg Louis of Bavaria, 
who had alwaj^s been, in spite of his mad and erratic 
ways, a great favorite of hers, she feared to go back to 
Bavaria, lest it should recall to her mind the shocking 
scene of which she was almost a witness ; for at the time 
when it occurred she was staying at a castle on the 
opposite shore of Lake Starhemberg, practically within 
view of the spot where the drowning took place, and 
just about where the King would have landed had he 
succeeded, as was evidently his intention, in swimming 
across. The death of the handsome King of Bavaria, 
in the Starhemberg " See," has been often told, and yet, 
like this ill-fated monarch's life, it is so romantic and 

11 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

extraordinary that it is still a frequent topic of conver- 
sation at Munich. 

The King had been for some time becoming more and 
more difficult to manage, and had accordingly to be con- 
tinually watched for fear of his doing himself or others 
some injury. His one idea was to escape from his at- 
tendants and to try to get over the frontier, for he 
was convinced that he would then be safe from any 

y further danger of incarceration. Accordingly, one even- 
ing he persuaded the doctor under whose immediate 
care he was to permit him to take his post-prandial 
stroll along the edge of the water. The moon was 
shining brightly, and the glitter of its rays on the lake, 
which had always possessed a powerful attraction for 
Louis, seemed to fill him with extreme delight. He 
broke out into exclamations of enthusiasm as he watched 
the fleeting shadows of the tall reeds which swayed 
above the rippling surface at his feet, and affectionately 
linking his arm into that of his physician, he entreated 
him to send away the two servants who were following 
them at a short distance, " in order," as he said, " that 
these menials might not mar his perfect enjoyment of 

V^ this lovely night -stroll." Confident that his turbulent 
patient was in an unusually manageable mood, the 
doctor granted this request, and chatting pleasantly 
with his royal charge, he continued his promenade. 
Suddenly, without the slightest warning, the King made 
a bound and precipitated the unfortunate physician un- 

^ der the water, and jumping in after him held him be- 
neath the surface until his struggles ceased. He there- 
upon started to swim across the lake, imagining that on 
the opposite shore he would find plenty of assistance, as 
he was aware that the peasantry were so fond of him 
that they had been on the point of rising en masse 

12 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

throughout the kingdom when they heard of his being 
placed under restraint. After he had swum a few 
strokes, however, congestion, due to his immersion in 
water of a very low temperature immediately after a 
heavy meal, supervened. This serves to explain how it 
was that when his corpse was found his lungs were free 
from water, whereas the contrary was the case with 
those of the doctor. 

Notwithstanding her proximity, the news of this awful 
incident did not reach the Empress until the next after- 
noon. Strangely enough, during the previous night she 
had alarmed her attendants by an agonized scream soon 
after retiring to her bed. On hurrying to her cham- 
ber, her women found her terror-stricken, she having 
just awakened from a dream in which she had seen 
King Louis standing by her bedside, his clothes drip- 
ping with water, which ran in such quantities from his 
hair and garments that she fancied that she was going 
to be drowned thereby. When she received the news, 
she caused herself to be rowed across the lake to her 
cousin's castle, and demanded to see his body. She had 
not seen him for some time, for his mental and physical 
condition had been such that visitors, even when belong- 
ing to his family, were not allowed by his medical at- 
tendants to be brought into his presence, and she was 
much shocked by the change which his long mental 
trouble and awful death had worked. She laid a bunch 
of white blossoms between his folded hands, and knelt 
down in prayer by his side, requesting all those present 
to leave the room. For nearly an hour they awaited 
her return, and at length, alarmed beyond measure, the 
Grand-Mistress of her household ventured to enter the 
apartment, where she found the Empress stretched 
upon the floor and apparently lifeless. It was only with 

13 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the greatest difficulty that she was restored to conscious- 
ness, and when at length she opened her eyes, she stared 
wildly about her for some moments, and then cried, in a 
shaking voice : 

" For God's sake, release the King from the mortuar}^ 
chapel. He is not really dead; he is only pretending to 
be so, in order to be left in peace and quietness, and not 
to be tormented any longer." 

Her nerves were so shattered by this dismal affair 
that it was feared that she might be stricken down by 
some serious illness, and the impression produced upon 
her by this last and terrible proof of the madness of 
her cousin preyed upon her mind for a very long time. 
This is more than sufficiently proved by the fact that 
when the physicians who went to Mayerling to perform 
the autopsy upon Crown Prince Rudolph returned to 
V the Hofburg, and declared that he had given himself 
death in a moment of temporary mental aberration, she 
sought out the Emperor, and entering his study, in her 
long black sweeping garments, she held out towards him 
her little quivering hands and said, with a sob : 

" Franz, pardon me ; I had no right to marry. Mad- 
ness is in my family, and I have brought it into yours." 

Poor, tender-hearted woman, always ready to take all 
blame upon herself, she yet knew well that it is not 
in the younger but in the elder branch of the House 
of Wittelsbach that there has been, and still is, lunacy, 
and it was with a great deal of trouble that the Em- 
peror comforted her by gently and tenderly saying : 

" You brought nothing but what is good and sweet 
with you when you married me, and I, my dear, have 
never been worthy of you in any way." 

Possenhoffen was a truly befitting place for the im- 
perial idyl which preceded the marriage of Franz- 

14 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Joseph and Elizabeth. Eveiy one knows how the Em- 
peror, soon after his arrival at his future father-in- 
law's castle to celebrate his betrothal with Duke Maxi- 
milian's eldest daughter, met under the dense shadows 
of the parklike woods a child, clothed in a short white 
frock, with a wonderful mass of wavy, silken, chestnut 
hair falling about her slim girlish figure, down to her 
tiny feet, and with a brace of large white deer-hounds 
leaping about her. With a child's impulsiveness she 
threw her arms about the neck of this imperial cousin 
of w^hom she had heard so often, as of a new brother 
that was to be, but whom she had never met, and mere- 
ly recognized from the portraits she had seen of him. 
The sorcery of her luminous sapphire-hued eyes^ the 
witchery of a smile which later oh^ became celebrated 
throughout Europe for its radiant charm, combined to 
rob the young monarch of his heart. 

He linked her arm within his and tried to draw her 
towards the castle, but the joang Princess would not 
allow this. 

" They would be awfully angry with me if I mixed 
with the grown-up ones," she said, laughing. " They 
have all to be married SiWSiy before I am allowed to ap- 
pear." 

'' That's what we are going to see," replied the deep- 
ly smitten Emperor. " Go and dress for dinner and 
meet me in the hall before I go down, my sweet ! I'll 
manage the rest." 

Completely subjugated, the young girl flew towards 
the great old building, while the Emperor marched off 
to his rooms, vowing to himself that he would win that 
little fairy princess in spite of all objections that might 
be put forward. Just as, after terminating his elabo- 
rate toilet, he was about to step into the hall, he heard 

15 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

two voices proceeding from behind a door, which was 
not quite closed. The louder and angrier of the two 
was saying : 

"Please don't, Princess; you know that you have 
been forbidden to let yourself be seen." 

" I shall do so, just the same, Countess," murmured 
the other voice, which Franz-Joseph recognized as be- 
longing to Elizabeth. The door opened wide, and the 
charming girl, followed by a lady-in-waiting, whose 
flashing eyes and ruffled gray locks denoted the great- 
est agitation, appeared in the hall. 

" Let us go down together, my cousin," said the 
Emperor, offering Elizabeth his arm ; and in spite of the 
frowns and entreaties of the old Countess, he drew the 
radiant creature, who had grown as white as a moon- 
beam, towards the broad flight of steps leading down 
to the terrace, where Duke Maximilian and Duchess 
Ludovica of Bavaria were waiting, surrounded by all 
their other children, the appearance of their august 
guest. At the sight of the handsome young couple a 
look of surprise, chagrin, and thorough disapproval 
started from the eyes of all present; but it was too 
late to interfere, for the mischief was done, and that 
same evening, closeted with the Duke, the Emperor de- 
clared to him that his plans had altered and formally 
asked from the infuriated old gentleman the favor of 
his youngest daughter's hand. 

A scene of much violence took place. Both men 
were overbearing and quick-tempered, and the affront 
put upon his eldest daughter could not but seem diffi- 
cult of acceptance to the old Duke. The Emperor, at 
last losing all patience, sprang from his chair and de- 
clared in his most fiery manner that, should his request 
be rejected, he would start instantly for his own domin- 

16 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ions, and marry neither one nor the other of his host's 
fair daughters ; nor for the matter of that would he 
marry at all, little heeding the future of his empire, 
since the wound at his heart would not heal sufficiently 
to permit of his ever thinking of any woman but that 
one girl whom he had met for the first time a few hours 
previously ! 

Thus forced from his last intrenchments, the Duke 
reluctantly yielded, much to the astonishment of his 
family and entourage^ for he was an extraordinarily 
obstinate old gentleman in general. During that time 
the little Princess, whose heart had been awakened by 
the first kiss of " Prince Charming," was sobbing in her 
narrow white bed and comparing herself anew to Cin- 
derella, for she had not as yet made her debut at her 
father's small court, and she could not but dread the 
consequences of her incredible disobedience to her par- 
ent's orders. 

She would, so she thought, in all probability, not 
again see the stalwart, blue-eyed youth who had called 
her " My lovely little cousin," and whose caressing 
looks and tender words had created so deep an impres- 
sion upon her. Little did she guess that he was to be 
the magician who would transform her peaceful, lonely 
life into the most brilliant of earthly lots, and, more is 
the pity, also the saddest which has ever been the por- 
tion of an imperial lady. 

These details were given to me by a dear old woman 
who was the Empress's nurse from earliest childhood, 
and who died not so very long ago. She it was who 
told me of this, the girl's first sorrow, and of that night 
when at last, exhausted by such unusual weeping, she 
fell back on her pillows, sleeping the dreamless sleep 
of innocent unhappiness under the moon -rays which 
B 17 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

stole through the stained glass of her windows and glit- 
tered on her long, wet eyelashes. 

• "Ah, my darling, my beauty; how much too pretty 
and too sweet and too pure she was for all that was to 
come !" the old woman often said to me. 

"And on her bridal-day how delicate and dainty and 
like an angel she looked, in spite of the weight of her 
court-mantle and of the heavy jewels bruising her ten- 
der flesh ! But she was happy then ; they had not yet 
crushed all joy out of her heart. She thought that life 
was one long festival, one endless chain of enchant- 
ment; that all people were good, and that the boundless 
wealth of her consort would be a magic wand with 
which to conjure away all the miseries of the earth 
wherever she went, poor child — poor little silly, loving 
child!" 

And then large tears would roll over the withered 
cheeks of the old dame, and she would clench her thin 
hands and pour out such a torrent of maledictions upon 
^ those who had wrecked her " little child's hopes," that 
I could but stand by her side shuddering and thinking 
of my own ideals which lay already dying at my feet. 

This new betrothal of the Emperor was of short 
\/ duration, and within a few weeks from the fateful day 
on which he had met his " little Elsa" their nuptials 
were celebrated with all the pomp and splendor that the 
most magnificent and ceremonial-loving court of Europe 
could lend to such espousals. At the moment when 
the young monarch slipped the golden circlet upon her 
finger the bride grew deadly pale, and glanced at the 
magnificent crowd which filled the sacred edifice with 
a gleam of anxiety and pain in her eyes. Did she at 
that moment foresee that these gorgeously clad nobles, 
headed by the members of her husband's family and 

18 



THE MARTYKDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

by those of her own, were already hatching the plots 
which were to turn her treasures into mere dross and 
ashes ? Kone can say, for with the instinctive dignity 
and courage which never failed her, she raised her 
drooping head and faced the rest of the ordeal without 
flinching. 

The marriage ceremony was celebrated on the 24:th of 
April, 1854, by Prince Archbishop Kauscher, and dur- 
ing a whole week Vienna was given over to the most 
magnificent series of feasts which its ancient walls had 
ever witnessed. Soon afterwards the imperial couple 
undertook a round of visits throughout their dominions, 
extending their voyage to Hungary, Lombardy, and 
Yenice, where the beauty of the Empress created the 
greatest possible impression. 

How happy these two young, handsome, and kind- 
hearted people could have been had not Archduchess 
Sophia interfered ! 

If ever there was an indisputable example of the harm 
which can be worked by a mother-in-law's jealous in- 
fluence upon the future existence of a loving couple, it 
is to be found in the relations which almost at once 
established themselves between the imperial pair and 
the grim Archduchess, who was known at court under 
the title of " Madame Mere." 

Clever as few women are, the Archduchess possessed 
a real genius for management. A remarkable tactician, 
she had over her son a sway which she never dreamed 
of surrendering into other hands, and little did she 
care whether her interference was likely to imperil the 
happiness of her child so long as she herself, in a po- 
litical and in a private capacity, reigned supreme. She 
hated her daughter-in-law, whom she alluded to as 
" that pretty wax-doll ;" and, heedless of the girl's feel- 

19 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ings, she deliberately set her aside, making it impos- 
sible for her to assume her natural place towards 
court and country. Indeed, she went so far, at last, 
as to insinuate herself absolutely between those two 
idyllic lovers, who would but for her overbearing self- 
ishness have, perchance, enjoj^ed the perfect bliss of a 
well-assorted union. 

Of course, at that time Elizabeth was very much in 
love with her " Franz," not perhaps in the way sug- 
gested by this vastly comprehensive expression ; for if 
the Empress possessed one fault — many would call it 
a virtue — it was an absolute lack of human passion. 
She had married, not in the least knowing what mar- 
riage meant, and her extreme youth, combined with 
that spirituality which causes the senses to sleep some- 
times forever, made it impossible for her to share her 
imperial lover's ardent feelings. The obligations of 
. such a love had no charm for her; indeed, as I heard it 
V from her own lips, they at first frightened her. She 
was a quaint combination of an angel and a goddess, a 
Greek nymph and a Christian virgin blended in one; 
her mother-in-law described her as a child, narrowly 
educated, lacking in comprehension and sympathy, and 
who ought to be more than satisfied with the high es- 
tate, boundless wealth, and brilliant surroundings which 
' had now become hers ! 

Infinitely cold, very cruel and tenacious, and an in- 
trigante in the full sense of the word, the Archduchess 
showed plainly the immense scorn which she felt at see- 
ing her son, one of the mightiest rulers of this world, fall 
more and more under the sway of a mere child of six- 
teen. Her only comfort lay in the one belief that he 
would soon tire of his new plaything, become satiated 
with the peach when once the bloom had been rubbed 

20 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

from it, and cease to hearken to the song of the little 
bird which she deemed had but one note in its reper- 
toire, and would sing it so constantly that its owner 
would feel ready to wring its tender little throat into 
silence. 

She knew well that her boy had inherited the flighti- 
ness and inconstancy of his race, and upon this knowl- 
edge did she build her plan of battle. Yet although con- 
temptuous of what she termed his momentary weakness, 
she nevertheless attached herself more closely to him 
than she had ever done before; she forced him to seek 
her advice, nay, she pressed her opinion upon him cease- 
lessly and worked untiringly both by day and night to 
maintain the supremacy which she cherished above all 
other thiniJ:s. 

Having ascended the throne at a moment when the 
country was shaken to its very centre, the Emperor had 
from the beginning, in spite of his extreme youth, shown 
a statecraft, a good sense, and an energy which will 
hardly be appreciated until the history of our century is 
written. During the first years of his reign he had, 
however, naturally enough, turned for support in the 
hours of discouragement and of fatigue to the dauntless 
strength of mind which his mother possessed in so high 
a degree, and during the dark days when his vast em- 
pire ail but slipped from his grasp he was glad to feel 
her at his side, urging him on, and helping him as no 
other counsellor could have done. This the Archduch- 
ess utilized later, when peace was restored and when 
she had nothing greater to dread than the too absorb- 
ing love of a maiden, which she feared might prove an 
obstacle to the continuance of her former position with 
regard to the great ruler who was her favorite child. 
She loved him too, undoubtedly, but she loved power 

21 



THE MAKTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

better still, and her despotism became wellnigh unbear- 
able after the advent of Elizabeth at the court, where 
she had until then played the leading role. 

" Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown !" Surely 
this old maxim was never more pathetically verified 
than by the life of Emperor Franz- Joseph of Austria. 
'None can deny that the cup of bitterness of this unfort- 
unate monarch, who for half a century has now worn 
the Hapsburg crown of thorns, and who ever since the 
day when, in 1848, he was forced by his mother to be- 
come the ruler of Austria-Hungary in lieu of his uncle. 
Emperor Ferdinand, '' the kind-hearted," has been filled 
to overflowing. Misfortunes and catastrophes have 
overtaken him from all sides. He saw his Italian prov- 
inces wrenched from him by ISTapoleon III., who dic- 
tated peace to him on his own terms after Solferino and 
Magenta. The six weeks' war which he waged with 
Germany ended for him at Sadowa with humiliation and 
sorrow. He lost his beloved brother Maximilian in an 
ignominious fashion in Mexico ; his only son, the pride 
and joy of his heart, was taken from him by an unrelent- 
ing fate and under circumstances which made his death 
especially painful for the Emperor to endure ; his sister- 
in-law, the Duchess d'Alengon, to whom he was devot- 
edly attached, was burned alive at the appalling confla- 
gration of the Bazar de la Charite ; his favorite niece, 
the Queen Regent of Spain, was humbled into the dust 
by the failure of her subjects to hold their own in the 
war against America; and, to cap the climax of his dis- 
tress, his beautiful and lovely consort was foully slain 
by the knife of an Anarchist. 

Surely such a series of calamities was not deserved by 
Franz-Joseph, for his sins have been, after all, but the 
faults of a man whose position was so exalted, whose 

33 




EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH AT THE TIME OF HIS ACCESSION 
TO THE AUSTRIAN THRONE IN 1848 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

rank so high, and whose personal charm so great, that he 
would have needed a resolution more than human to re- 
sist the countless temptations continually thrown in his 
way. One can say of him that he has been and still is 
the most popular and sincerely beloved monarch in all 
Christendom, beloved, too, by both rich and poor, by the 
high-born and by the humbler classes. To the latter in 
particular he has been always accessible, ever ready to 
lend an ear to their personal troubles and grievances, 
and eager to redress them. J^othing is more character- 
istic of this than the scenes which take place in his ante- 
chamber on Monday and Thursday mornings when he 
is at Vienna. The great anteroom is thronged with 
cardinals and prelates, with generals and statesmen, 
with great nobles and magnates, and mingling with all 
these high and mighty personages are Bohemian brick- 
layers, miserable creatures from the poorer quarters of 
Vienna, and village priests, all waiting to submit their 
troubles, their sorrows, their wrongs, and their griev- 
ances to ^' unsern Guten Kaiser " (our good Emperor). I 
need scarcely add that, very much in accordance with 
the teachings of the New Testament, it is the village 
priest who is generallj^- received before the scarlet-robed 
cardinal, the poorly clad peasant before the cabinet 
minister in his gold-embroidered uniform, and the farm- 
er before the great territorial magnate. 

Gay and thoughtless as was Franz-Joseph before he 
ascended the throne, he proved thereafter that he really 
meant what he said when, on the early morning of De- 
cember 2, 1848, after his father had informed him that 
Emperor Ferdinand had abdicated and that he. Arch- 
duke Francis-Charles, renounced his right of succession 
to the throne in favor of his eldest son, he pronounced the 
historic sentence, " Good-bye to the days of my youth." 

23 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Franz-Joseph was born on the 18th of August, 1830, 
during the reign of his grandfather, Emperor Francis, 
and was from the very day of his birth regarded, es- 
pecially by his mother. Archduchess Sophia, as being 
the natural heir to the crown, for his father's elder 
brother, Ferdinand, who occupied the throne of Austria- 
Hungary from 1835 until 1848, had no children, and 
was always in an extremely delicate state of health. 
On March 13, 1848, revolution broke out in Vienna. 
Prince Metternich, who had until then been absolute 
master of all the foreign affairs of the country, was 
compelled to fly, and poor, weak Emperor Ferdinand 
granted his people a constitutional government, in- 
cluding more or less liberty of the press, the so-called 
right of public meetings, etc. Nevertheless, Vienna 
was by no means pacified or quieted; Lombardy and 
Venetia broke out into open rebellion, the King of Sar- 
dinia declared war against Austria, and the great Aus- 
trian leader. Field - Marshal Radetzky, was forced to 
evacuate Milan. It was at this moment that Franz- 
Joseph joined the Austrian army at Verona, and dis- 
played such personal courage during the many bloody 
engagements which devasted Lombardy during the 
month of May that Kadetzky expressed his opinion 
with regard to the certainty of the young Archduke be- 
coming one of the greatest generals of his day. In the 
meanwhile Emperor Ferdinand and his court had left 
Vienna for Innsbruck, in the Tyrol, and, pressed hard by 
the machinations of Archduchess Sophia, finally decided 
to relinquish the reins of government to the stronger 
and younger hands of his nephew, Franz-Joseph. The 
ceremony of abdication took place on December 2, 
1848, at the Archiepiscopal Palace of Olmiitz, in the 
presence of Archduchess Sophia, Archduke Francis- 

24 




AKCHDUCHESS SOPHIE AKD THE EMPEKOR WHEN A BABY 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Charles, her husband, the Cabinet Ministers of the Em- 
pire, Prince Windischgratz, Count Griinne, the Banus of 
Croatia, Baron Jellachich, who was one of the most 
ardent followers of Archduchess Sophia, and several im- 
portant members of the imperial family. 

Solemnly and impressively, although in a slightly 
trembling voice. Emperor Ferdinand pronounced the 
words which made him pass from, the rank of a ruling 
sovereign to that of a mere onlooker upon the doings 
of his country : 

"For very weighty reasons we have irrevocably de- 
cided to lay down, our Imperial Crown in favor of our 
beloved nephew, the Most Serene Archduke Franz- 
Joseph, whom we hereby declare to be of age. Our 
beloved brother, the Most Serene Archduke Francis- 
Charles, father of our above-mentioned most serene 
nephew, having irrevocably renounced his right of succes- 
sion to a throne which belongs to him by right, accord- 
ing to the fundamental laws of our family, and of the 
state, in favor of his above-mentioned son, Franz-Joseph." 

Surely never did a monarch ascend his throne under 
more difficult circumstances than did this young man, 
whose pleasure-loving, gay disposition made him bitter- 
ly regret the conditions which forced upon his shoulders 
so crushing a weight of responsibility. 

The country was in a state of seething" rebellion from 
one end to the other ; the Hungarian Dictator, Kossuth, 
had declared that the Hapsburg Dynasty had forfeit- 
ed its right to the crown of Hungary; in Vienna the 
population had adopted a sullen attitude of defiance, 
under the martial law instituted there, as well as at 
Prague; and in the Italian provinces the most awful 
civil war raged, for the hatred existing between the 
Italians and Austrians had grown to a white-heat. 

25 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It would take too long, and would turn this work 
into too historical a one, to follow here, step by step, the 
various stages through which Austria and Hungary 
passed before at last peace was, after a fashion, re- 
stored. 

Suffice it therefore to state that in 1853 matters had 
sufficiently quieted down to render admissible the words 
of the young Emperor, who said : 

"I think that now my reign may become one of 
peace." 

This was, however, to be far from the case, for hard- 
ly had the Emperor tried to console himself for past 
troubles with dreams of this new era, when on February 
18, 1853, his own career came within an ace of being 
cut short for evermore. While Franz-Joseph was walk- 
ing on the old fortifications of the inner town of 
Vienna, a Hungarian of the name of Joseph Libenyi 
threw himself upon the young monarch and plunged a 
long dagger into the back of his neck. Fortunately the 
stiff military collar of the Emperor's coat somewhat 
paralyzed the violence of the stroke. But it was never- 
theless a most dangerous wound, and Count O'Donnel, 
who was then aide-de-camp to the Emperor, and who 
had accompanied him on that morning, fearing that the 
weapon might have been poisoned, courageously sucked 
the wound. The Emperor, who had until that moment 
remained upright, and entreated the crowd, which had 
immediately gathered, not to hurt his would-be assas- 
sin, fell fainting to the ground. 

It is on the spot where this attentaU took place 
that now stands the " Yotiv-Kirche," which is one of 
the finest and most severely and magnificently Gothic 
churches in the whole world. 

None can deny that Franz- Joseph must have been 

26 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

endowed with more than ordinary sagacity and tact to 
be able to subdue the many turbulent peoples under his 
rule, and to obtain over them an authority which is 
really enormous. His way of speaking with those who 
seek an audience from him, his apparent interest in the 
most trivial details concerning those who are favored 
by an interview with him, are very characteristic. At 
the reception of delegations, his Majesty makes a point 
of wearing a Hungarian uniform to receive Magyars ; 
that of an Austrian oflBcer when greeting his Cis- 
leithan subjects, and the uniform of a Polish regiment 
when welcoming Poles. On these occasions he speaks 
to more than a hundred people in rapid succession, and 
every one of his remarks shows a thorough acquaint- 
ance with all the affairs, great and small, of the mon- 
archy. Foreign affairs and railway tariffs, commercial 
treaties and parliamentary procedure, the army, the 
navy, agriculture, the budget, the troublesome young 
Czechs, and the poor Jewish population in Galicia — all 
form the subjects of his kindly and paternal remarks. 
'Nov is the comic element always wanting in these con- 
versations. Once, when addressing a Polish delegate, 
Franz-Joseph asked how things were going on in Ga- 
licia. " Oh, sire, we are suffering from a dreadful plague 
of field-mice," answered the delegate, ruefully. "Ah, 
das ist recht fatal" (Ah, that is very unfortunate), an- 
swered the Emperor, with a smile. 

All these things are trifles, yet they mean a good 
deal, for every delegate comes away happy after hav- 
ing spoken with the Emperor, and feeling that his Maj- 
esty is quite as much interested in his particular busi- 
ness, whatever that may be, as he is himself. If he had 
a grievance, he has had an opportunity of making it 
known. If he had a favor to ask, the chance of so 

27 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

doing has been given to him. Xow multiply the im- 
pression produced upon one hundred and twenty dele- 
gates a thousand or a hundred thousand fold, by re- 
membering that twice a week the Emperor is accessible 
to all classes of his subjects, and the result may be 
easily imagined. Any one who has serious business 
with him may see him, and speak with him quite alone, 
without even a secretary being present. The applicant, 
whatever ma}^ be his station, is ushered into a study and 
finds the Emperor in a plain uniform, without a single 
decoration. He may say what he likes, sure of being 
hearkened to with patient attention. The scenes that 
have been enacted in the Emperor's private chamber 
no chronicler will ever tell. Of the acts of kindness', 
mercy, and charity shown, of the swift redress of 
wrongs, of the shrewd, soldierly advice given, and of 
the imperial magnanimity displayed at all times, no 
record has been kept, excepting in the Empei'or's own 
memory, if even there. 

The war with Italy, in 1859, almost broke his Majes- 
ty's proud heart ; and after the peace of Yilla Franca, 
which was signed by Franz-Joseph and Napoleon III. 
on July 11th, and confirmed at Zurich in the following 
J^ovember, the Emperor returned to Vienna in a very 
sad and dejected mood. There can be no doubt what- 
soever that on the luckless battle-fields of Italy he had 
courted death. After Solferino, as he was retreating 
with his escort, a French battery opened fire on the 
imperial party. The Emperor checked his charger, 
and remained as motionless as a statue carved out of 
stone under the burning shower of iron which fell about 
him. Death, however, strongly resembles a coquette, 
and evades those who seek her. Thus was the unfort- 
unate sovereign, who has since been called " Franz- 

28 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Joseph the Unlucky," spared, so that he might drain to 
the very dregs his cnp of misfortune and sorrow. 

One of the heaviest of these sorrows was caused by 
the stormy days of 1866, when Bismarck defeated the 
Austrian forces at Sadowa ; for this capped the climax 
of the Emperor's humiliation, and embittered him to 
such an extent that it was only in 1873, when the first 
Universal International Exhibition, which was held at 
Yienna, took place, that he began to realize how much 
he had really done for his country, and how prosperous 
it had become in his hands. Enlightenment and prog- 
ress had indeed been made to follow wherever his scep- 
tre pointed. Trade and commerce had revived, and 
the city of Yienna itself was fast becoming one of the 
handsomest in the universe. 

The one flaw in a character which was otherwise so 
fine w^as the Emperor's love for flirtations of a most 
pronounced description. It was believed by him, as by 
others who thought that they knew him well, that his 
love match with a princess so beautiful and so com- 
pletely attractive as Elizabeth would cure him of this 
hereditary trait. This was, however, a lamentable error, 
and the origin of the Empress's first poignant sorrows 
is to be found in the I'eglrete of her consort, whose 
numerous infidelities made her shed so many tears in 
secret. 



CHAPTER II 

As soon as the young couple were definitely estab- 
lished at Yienna, le parti de Madame Mere grew every 
day stronger, covert taunts were not spared to the young 
Empress, who, with smiling lips and an aching heart, 
was made to understand that the portionless daughter 
of a mere non-royal duke was not worthy of the honor 
that had been done her. She was treated by all with a 
coldness and disdain calculated to break the spirit of a 
less courageous woman, but as she alwaj^s hated to be 
an object of pity, she never complained to the Emperor, 
who, save in her gradual if very marked recoil from all 
those appearances in public which she could possibly 
avoid, and in her increasing sadness, noticed no change 
in her. He himself treated her with the most constant 
courtesy and solicitous care, but a misunderstanding 
arose between them, fomented by wounded pride and 
feeling on her side, and on his by the continual in- 
triguing which was brought to bear upon him. 

Yet Elizabeth still dearly loved the man who had 
come into her life to change, at first, all its dulness 
into fields of light and of joy ; the distant sound of his 
step still thrilled her with delight, the very sound of his 
voice made her pulses beat quicker, but the spiritual 
and enthusiastic love which she bore him was little by 
little forced back into the innermost recesses of her 
heart, and the very excess of it held her pale and silent 
when she should have confided her sufferings to him, 

30 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

for fear of appearing in his eyes the troublesome child 
her mother-in-law told her so frequently that she was. 

It was a pity indeed that the Emperor had no leisure, 
or no desire, to study his wife's character with more care 
then, for he would easily have discerned those gifts, 
mental and intellectual, which make up the noblest of 
temperaments. He was as yet violentl}^, passionately 
in love with her matchless beauty, but affairs of state, 
social successes, out -door sports, to which he gave 
almost his every free moment, and the beginning of a 
vague return to his former less commendable pleasures, 
widened daily the gulf which was to force them apart 
more and more as time went on. !N"or can Franz-Joseph 
be blamed very severely either, at that time, for this 
state of affairs. Women had thrown themselves into 
his arms from his earliest youth, not only for the sake 
of his rank and sovereign position, but also on account 
of his handsome face and presence, of his winning man- 
ner, and of the many gifts and talents which made him 
one of the most attractive of men. He consequently, 
in spite of his ever singularly chivalrous ways, did not 
esteem women very highly; they had flattered and 
cajoled him too much for that, and wooed him also, 
until something very like contempt took the place of 
gratitude where they were concerned. His wife was to 
him a thing apart, so lovely and pure and innocent that 
she fulfilled his ideal of absolute perfection ; but un- 
fortunately he fell into the unpardonable error of be- 
lieving her to be too young, too inexperienced, and too 
indifferent to become his real companion and comrade. 

Poor Empress ! One year after her marriage her fut- 
ure seemed so immensely long and wearisome that she 
felt disheartened when she thought of it ; her rank was 
too lofty, her riches too great for ambition to present any 

31 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

luring charm for her, especially as all inroads into politics 
were forbidden to her by "Madame Mere's" own in- 
satiate ambition in that direction. What waste this all 
made of a superfine nature, sedulously forced back into 
apparent worthlessness! 

Jealousy had not at that time entered her heart, but 
this also was not long to be spared her. One morning 
the old nurse to whom I referred before, and Avho had 
remained in her service, entered her Majesty's dressing- 
room at the usual hour, and not finding her there, vent- 
ured to go and seek her in the little adjoining oratory. 

This small sanctuary was a favorite retreat of the 
Empress, and she had decorated it with that delicate taste 
so peculiarly her own. The walls were of alabaster, as 
was the tiny altar, above which hung a wonderful cruci- 
fix of onyx and silver; golden candelabra raised their 
perfumed candles among a wealth of snowy blossoms, 
and shed a soft radiance, day and night, upon a price- 
less triptych of Lucas von Cranach, and upon a ^rie- 
dieu^ embroidered on white velvet by Elizabeth's clever 
little hands. 

She herself was kneeling down, with her arms leaning 
on the altar-rail, her magnificent hair streaming over 
her loose white robe, and her head buried in her hands, 
while convulsive sobs shook her whole slender form. 
For a moment the old woman watched her wistfully. 
She knew that her darling was not happy, but she had 
never seen her display such a passion of grief as she 
now beheld. Moreover, she was aware of the fact that 
to this daughter of an ancient race pity seemed the last 
of insults, the alms thrown to some proud, impoverished 
being, which brands him as a beggar for evermore. 
So she hesitated to advance and to offer her any kind 
of consolation. 

32 





EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN 1855 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Impelled, however, by the adoration which she felt 
for her imperial mistress, she drew slowly nearer and 
touched the weeping figure. The face which the young 
Empress raised towards her had lost in a few hours all 
its childish bloom: it was the pale, haggard, drawn 
countenance of a woman who had left behind her all 
the careless joys of youth. More lovely, perhaps, than 
ever before in its tear -glazed distress, it nevertheless 
struck her old and devoted attendant's heart with 
terror. 

"My little one — my poor darling!" she exclaimed, 
reverting in her amazement and sorrow to the fashion 
in which she used formerly to address her nursling. 
"What have they done to jou. now ? Oh, the wretches! 
the cruel monsters ! Tell me what has hurt you so." 

In a broken voice, very unlike her own, the Empress 
said, shudderingl^T" : " I wish I were dead !" 

The words escaped her almost unawares; evidently 
when they were uttered she would have given worlds to 
recall them. She grew paler than ever, her expression 
hardened into something like anger, and rising from her 
knees, she pushed away her trailing hair and said, im- 
patiently : 

"You mean well, but you must not ask me such 
questions, for I cannot bear to pain you by refusing to 
confide in you, and my pain is not one which I can 
speak of to any living soul." 

And after kissing the old woman tenderly to soften 
the effect caused by her words, she left her standing in 
deepest consternation on the threshold of the oratory, 
while with a firm, proud step she returned to the soli- 
tude of her bedroom. 

There was at that time at court a lady who for 

convenience sake I shall call the Countess von L . 

c 33 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

She was a very handsome woman, in a pink and white 
blonde way, d la Rubens. She was not extraordinarily 
refined or talented, and certainly not at all ethereal, but 
she was very chic and very amusing ; she dressed ad- 
mirably, and was quite the rage, especially since she was 
known to be " Madame Mere's " especial protegee. At a 
great ball given in honor of some foreign royalties the 
Emperor seemed much struck by this type of sensuous 
beauty, and devoted more of his time to her than strict 
etiquette allowed. Many an unkind, if just, comment 
was made about this incident, and the good souls who 
formed the Empress's entourage took good care that it 
should assume in her eyes the maximum of the meaning 
it could be made to bear. She gave no outward sign 
of having understood these charitable allusions, but her 
grave, colorless face, that had already become so cold in 
its innocence, now assumed an entirely novel expression, 
so melancholy, so thoughtful, that she was immediately 
taxed with moodiness and sulkiness. She now seldom 
smiled, and when she did so it was in a chilly, half- 
hearted waj'' which was painful to behold. 

Her beloved hero, the husband whom she had held 
would be her eternal lover, was tottering upon the pedes- 
tal of virtues which she had erected for him in her soul. 
All the horrors of doubt and of sin fell suddenly and 
without warning upon her ignorance of social wicked- 
ness, and a great disgust overcame her, for she was in- 
formed by many willing and poisonous mouths that her 
consort's attentions were not restricted to the fair 
Countess, and that there were many hours in his life 
spent after a fashion of which he would be more than 
unwilling to render her an account. 

For this bitter awakening of her love-dream she was 
also indebted to her mother-in-law. The old lady — who 

34 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

then, by -the -bye, considered herself only in the very 
prime of life, and who had by no means abdicated her 
rights to universal admiration — seeing that her son was 
more enamored with his lovely wife than she thought it 
safe or desirable for him to be, managed to surround 
him with those temptations to which a man of the 
world yields so easily, and the satisfaction of which he 
calls by the convenient name of peccadilloes. 

The Archduchess was by no means an immoral wom- 
an; she even posed as an infinitely religious one; but 
to her the raison d'etat was more important than all 
else, and she was absolutely convinced that the influ- 
ence possessed by Elizabeth over the Emperor would 
work to no good end. That she should bear him 
healthy children was all that she asked of her son's 
young wife ; the rest had no interest for her. 

This question of maternity was an all-important one, 
and was represented as such to the Empress, who said 
once, sadly, to her own mother, in one of her few mo- 
ments of semi-confidence : 

" Should I remain childless, I wonder if Franz would 
follow ISTapoleon's example and cause our union to be 
annulled ?" 

Much horrified, the duchess - mother, who was a 
kind-hearted, sagacious, and loving woman, replied, 
gently : 

" You are unreasonable, my child ; you must not be- 
come morbid. Franz loves you dearly — you know it 
well; and as to ]Srapoleon, savants have proved long 
ere this that his heart, or what served him in lieu of 
one, was ossified. In my opinion he was, perhaps, the 
greatest general that ever existed, but he was also an 
ambitious wretch, who sacrificed all humanity to his 
own desires and interests." 

35 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Such wretches still exist," murmured the young Em- 
press, with a heavy sigh. 

" My dearest," continued her mother, " there are two 
sorts of women in this world — those who always get 
their own way, and those who never get it. You seem 
to me to be one of the latter: you have remarkable abil- 
ities and talents, a deep, thoughtful mind, and you do 
not lack character; but what you do lack is the power 
of stooping to the level of your associates, of bending 
yourself to the exigencies of modernism. You belong to 
another period, that in which saints and martyrs existed. 
Do not attract notice by being too obviously the first, or 
break your own heart by fancying yourself to be the 
latter." 

This conversation was repeated to me by the Empress 
more than twenty years after it had taken place, and 
she then added, with a rather wan smile: 

"I am afraid, my dear, that I did not follow my 
mother's excellent advice, for I have often been taunted 
with posing both as a saint and as a martyr, although, 
I am sure, I never believed myself burdened with two 
such calamities as saintliness and martyrdom." 

Duchess Ludovica in Bavaria, Empress Elizabeth's 
mother, was one of the most sympathetic princesses in 
Europe. She was the sister of the Emperor's mother, 
Archduchess Sophia, otherwise called at the court of 
Yienna, " Madame Mere," but she was a perfect antith- 
esis to her, and her kindness, sweetness of temper, as 
well as her talents and remarkable sagacity, were justly 
celebrated. A magnificient performer on the piano, the 
organ, and the zither, she spoke Greek and Italian with 
amazing fluency, and even up to the time of her death, at 
the advanced age of eighty-four, she spent many hours a 
day in study. She was a remarkably well-preserved wom- 

36 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

an — the astounding manner in which beauty remained 
hers to the last may be accounted for by her invariable 
habit of riding and driving in all kinds of weather, and 
f by the cold baths in which she indulged twice daily. She 
was an excellent mother, and deeply devoted to her hus- 
band, who died shortly before her, and almost immedi- 
ately after the celebration of their golden wedding. 

He was a very witty and somewhat eccentric — in fact, 
altogether a very interesting person. Passionately fond 
of dogs, he treated the numerous ones which he possessed 
just as if they were children, much to the amusement of 
his courtiers. Eeing, moreover, endowed with an extraor- 
dinarily original turn of mind, Duke Maximilian was the 
hero of many an amusing anecdote. 

One day when the Duke was travelling from Munich 
to Yienna, without submitting himself to any of the fuss 
which generally surrounds the voyages of princes, a gen- 
tleman, at the moment when the train was about to 
steam out of the station, entered the ordinary first-class 
carriage in which he was established. A conversation 
soon began between them, in the course of which the 
unknown mentioned that he was one of the greatest 
watch-makers in Austria, and ended by asking Duke 
Maximilian what his profession was, and why he was 
i| goiug to Vienna. 

" Well, to tell you the truth," replied Maximilian, " I 
have at present no profession, and I am going to Yienna 
to visit my daughter and son-in-law." 

" Ah, and is your son-in-law in business ?" 

" Yes and no ; he is a pretty busy man, if that is what 
you want to know." 

" Has he a good position ?" 

" Yes, a pretty good position." 

" What kind of a position is it V 

37 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" He is an emperor." 

The Yiennese watch-maker began to laugh loudly, 
thinking, of course, that his travelling companion was 
joking, and when they finally arrived at their destination,, 
the vivacious merchant, without waiting until the train 
had completely stopped, gave a playful dig in the ducal 
ribs, and jumping out of the railway carriage, called out 
to the astounded old gentleman : ^ 

'' That was a good joke of yours, but I am not so easily 
taken in. Good-bye, and good luck; hope to see you 
again soon. Don't forget to introduce me to your im- 
V perial son-in-law some day." 

At dinner that evening Duke Maximilian related his 
adventure to his greatly entertained children, and the 
Emperor, who was then still exceedingly fond of fun, 
hastened next morning to send for the watch-maker in 
question. Upon being ushered into the Emperor's pres- 
ence, the unfortunate man, who at a glance recognized, 
sitting in an arm-chair beside the Emperor's writing-table, 
the benevolent -looking gentleman with whom he had 
travelled from Munich on the previous day, was fright- 
ened out of his senses. But he was soon reassured by 
the Emperor's kind smile, and, moreover, delighted be- 
yond measure at receiving an order for some dozen or so 
of his very finest watches. 

" You see," laughed the sovereign, " that my position 
is not a bad one, but don't you go envying it, for it 
brings with it often more thorns than roses." 

There is in the palace of Laxenburg, near Yienna, a 
magnificent painting representing Duchess Ludovica 
surrounded by all her beautiful daughters. The Duchess 
was so proud of them that when she used in early days 
to go out walking with them she would exclaim : 

" Voila mon attelage de jposte^^ (Look at my handsome 

38 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

team). She might indeed be well pleased with the ex- 
treme beauty of the princesses, for all of them were 
singularly comely, although Elizabeth was, and always 
remained, the pearl of them all. 

Princess de la Tour-et-Taxis, who died in 1891, Tvas a 
woman of a great deal of personal charm. She resem- 
bled greatly that other sister, the unfortunate Queen of 
l^aples, who played so brilliant a role during the siege 
of Gaeta, when, placing herself at the head of her hus- 
band's beleaguered army, she walked about the ram- 
parts under a hail of bullets and infused her indomit- 
able courage into the hearts of the most timid by her 
magnificent attitude in the face of the enemy. 

Countess Trani was more like the Duchess d'Alen- 
gon, whose gentle, noble-hearted nature inclined her to 
think everlastingl}^ of good works, and who employed 
the greatest portion of her life in succoring the poor 
and the afflicted. It was while working for them at 
the Bazar de la Charite, in Paris, that the Duchess 
found a terrible death among raging flames. The sor- 
row caused by this new tragedy, which was one of so 
many, drove Empress Elizabeth almost to inconsolable 
despair. 

It is claimed that when the Duchess d'Alen^on was 
yet a young girl her awful end was predicted to her by 
a gypsy, who said to her : 

" Do not fear water, but beware of another element, 
namely, the natural enemy of water, for it will attack 
you when you are employed on an angel's errand and 
will cut short your career." 

The Princess who was later on to become the Queen 
of E'aples was at that moment with her sister, and 
turning to the Zingara woman, she asked her to predict 
her own future. Peering into the girl's eyes, and then 

39 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

gazing for an instant into the soft palm of her little 
hand, the gypsy replied : 

" You will become a queen, but amid blood, war, and 
disaster you will lose your crown in spite of the energy 
and courage which you will show. Fear Ked Men, for 
it will be through them that you will ultimately be 
vanquished." 

Subsequently, as it is shown in history, it was by 
Garibaldi's " Eed Men " that the King and Queen of 
Naples were robbed of their crown. In both cases the 
gypsy spoke the truth. 

The tourists who visited, a few years ago, the shores 
of the Starenberg Lake in the Bavarian Tyrol may still 
remember the brief stop of the steamer at the Possen- 
hoffen pier, and the silvery - haired old lady who was 
generally standing on the verdant slopes of the chateau 
grounds, acknowledging with stately courtesy the re- 
spectful salute of the captain and of his crew. 

This was Duchess Ludovica. Her life was embittered 
by many sorrows caused to her tender mother's heart 
by her children's countless misfortunes. The first of 
these was brought about by the extraordinary conduct 
of King Louis of Bavaria when he jilted Princess So- 
phia, later Duchess d'Alengon, in so cruel a manner. 
The reasons for the King's conduct in this matter are 
not generally known. Shortl}^ after his engagement 
to the Princess a very pretty actress fell violently in 
love with him — he was then a most remarkably good- 
looking young man — and so great became her passion 
that she decided to try to capture the monarch's 
heart and to supplant in his affections the charming 
Princess to whom he had so lately become affianced. 
With a view of accomplishing this praiseworthy plan 
she left the stage and obtained, through the influence 

40 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

of some high personages whom she knew, the position 
of reader to the Princess, this enabling her, of course, 
to come into personal contact with the King. As I 
remarked just now, this enterprising damsel was ex- 
tremely beautiful, and Louis could not very well help 
observing her physical advantages. When he met her 
he used to chat and banter, without, however, forgetting 
in the very slightest way his allegiance to the Princess. 
One fine day the ci-devant actress hit upon the Machi- 
avelian idea of taking from the Princess a half-hoop of 
turquoises shaped like forget-me-nots, one of the many 
presents sent by Louis to his fiancee, and of giving it 
to a young oflicer of the King's body-guard with whom 
she had, for that purpose, begun a mild flirtation, re- 
questing him to wear it for her sake. The enamoured 
youth was only too happy to do so, and flaunted it 
carelessly before the very eyes of his royal master. 
The character of King Louis of Bavaria was even in 
those days an odd one, and instead of inquiring from 
the young man how he came to possess this jewel, he 
took it for granted that the Princess was untrue to him, 
and in a fit of almost demoniacal fury he wrote her a 
quite unpardonable letter, breaking off his engagement. 
^ The unhappy girl, wounded to the heart and unable to 
understand what had caused such an attitude on the 
part of her erstwhile fiance, was further dismayed when 
she discovered that her fair reader had fled from the 
palace and had taken up her abode in a little chalet 
situated within the limits of the royal park. Believ- 
ing, naturally enough, that the cause of the King's be- 
havior towards herself was to be found in his prefer- 
ence for her j[>TGtegee^ she sent back all the presents 
which he had given to her, excepting of course the 
turquoise ring, which she believed that she must have 

41 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

accidentally lost. The absence of this jewel from 
among the others returned to him aroused the King's 
suspicion, and he mentioned the fact to the lady who 
had caused him to act so abominably towards the 
Princess. They were at that moment floating about 
on Louis's favorite lake in one of those swan-shaped 
boats for which the "Marchen-Prinz" had so much 
partiality. The moon was shining high up in the heav- 
ens and casting its silvery glory upon the surface of 
the water, and the young dame thought this a per- 
fectly fitting decor de scene for a sensational revelation ; 
therefore, casting herself at her lover's feet, she con- 
fessed to him the trick she had played upon him in 
order to win his love. Here again the singular and 
fiery temper of the monarch overcame him. Taking the 
kneeling girl by the waist, he flung her from him right 
into the lake, and without turning his head propelled 
the swan-boat towards the shore. Fortunately for the 
drowning lady, some game-keepers heard her cries for 
help and rescued her from a watery grave. She fled 
from Bavaria ; and the King hastened to Possenhoffen 
in order to explain matters and make his peace with 
Princess Sophia. He found, however, that this was an 
impossible task, for she refused to see him, and declared 
that she would never consent to become the wife of a 
man who had mistrusted and insulted her. 



CHAPTER III 

One of the accusations which has been most frequent- 
ly launched at the Empress Elizabeth is that she was not 
a good mother. This is quite as untrue as all the other 
villanies alleged by her many detractors. 

When her first little daughter was born the Empress 
felt that a brilliant ray of joy had come into her life. 
During the months preceding this event she had suffered 
as only over-sensitive natures can suffer, natures so re- 
fined, so exquisitely delicate that they find no comfort 
in unburdening their souls by confidence, or in heralding 
their wrongs by reviling others. She was ashamed of 
the piteous jealousy which kept growing in her heart, 
but she could not resist the inroads which it made into 
her peace of mind, until she felt nothing but a sickening 
despondency. The Emperor still continued to see no 
great alteration in her, save that which he ascribed to 
her naturally failing health. 

She was always calm and gentle, and he was far from 
guessing that beneath the serious smile of the sweet 
mouth, which served so effectually to hide her sorrows, 
there throbbed the most torturing of doubts and of fears. 

The birth of her child brought more cheerful and 
hopeful ideas in its train. " ISTow," she said to her moth- 
er, "my existence cannot be said to have been utterly 
useless ; besides, children form an unbreakable tie, even 
between husbands and wives who are otherwise abso- 
lutely indifferent to each other." 

43 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It was a desolate kind of consolation for so young a 
girl, but it helped her wonderfully, until she discovered 
that the baby not being of the right sex, everybody 
was disappointed, even the Emperor himself, who pas- 
sionately desired a male heir to his crown. This was 
but another blow to her, and her melancholy — which 
her entourage chose to call "melancholia" — increased 
steadily. 

The baby, on whose downy head Elizabeth had built so 
many hopes, was, however, not destined to remain long 
on this earth as a consolation and a joy to her young 
mother, for before she was two years old she died 
of some swift and terrible infant ailment at Budapest, 
where her imperial parents were spending the spring. 
When the little coffin, covered with a shower of white 
roses, and containing the small corpse of tiny Arch- 
duchess Sophia-Dorothea, had been taken from her side, 
the Empress realized for the first time that there are 
worse miseries here below than disappointment and 
jealousy. She struggled against a feeling of utter revolt 
ag:ainst her fate, but all her self-restraint was broken 
down at one stroke by the sudden appearance of a 
superb white dog which had been the playfellow and 
devoted companion of the dead baby. Flinging herself 
upon her knees, she threw her arms about the shaggy 
neck of the animal, and wept such tears as it must pain 
the very angels in heaven to see a human creature shed. 

All her love became centred upon little Archduchess 
Gisela, who had made her appearance in the world in 
1856, and also upon the hope of bearing a male heir to 
the crown, since this seemed to be looked upon as the. 
most important aim of her existence. "With these senti- 
ments to sustain her drooping spirits, she tried her best 
to brace up against the continual malevolence of those 

44 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

about her. This was hard enough to bear without 
there being added the steady diminution of her hus- 
band's first adoring devotion. 

"Wearied, perhaps not entirely without cause, by his 
wife's silence, self-efiFacement, and unspoken reproach, 
for his mother made it her most sacred duty to give 
other names to these defects, and to point out to him 
what a blunder he made in uniting himself to a mere 
beauty who had neither mind nor heart, and who was 
as chill as an arctic landscape, he threw himself into 
the whirl of the gayest society on earth. Kind and con- 
siderate he always was to Elizabeth, when they were to- 
gether, but as soon as he had left her, even the memory 
of those great, sad, luminous eyes, the pathetic pallor of 
that lovely oval face, ceased to haunt him as of yore, and 
he thought of nothing save his many pleasures and oc- 
cupations — the council of ministers over which he was 
to preside, or the ball he was to honor with his presence. 

At last, a little before she attained her twenty-first 
year, the Empress gave birth to a son, a beautiful child, 
somewhat delicate of appearance, but with whom even 
his irascible paternal grandmother deigned to be satis- 
fied. 

" ISTobody has seemed to need me until now, not even 
my little girl, who is kept away from me so much," said 
poor Elizabeth ; " but my boy I shall not permit to be 
taken away to distant nurseries and the care of strangers ; 
he will need me, and we will be happy through each 
other." 

In this, however, she was mistaken again. The heir 
apparent to one of the greatest empires of this planet 
was not to be brought up by a " chit of a girl who did 
not even know enough to behave herself " — such was 
" Madame Mere's " charitable verdict. The baby Arch- 

45 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

duke was, therefore, as soon as was feasible, installed in 
a far-off portion of the palace, where, as his kindly 
granddame judiciously remarked, "he would be much 
better than in the hands of his silly young mother." 
The '"'silly young mother" remonstrated in vain. She 
was curtly told that the boy was perfectly well cared 
for, and treated in a much better and wiser way than if 
she had the management of him. 

The Empress nevertheless insisted upon the loving 
^duties of maternity, upon the consolation it would be to 
her to look after her own darling, as any other mother 
,would be allowed to do. 

"Pshaw 1" replied the Archduchess, impatiently, "what 
consolation do you need ? You are one of the handsomest 
women in the world, you have the finest jewels, and the 
grandest position one can imagine; that ought to satisfy 
you. Do not grow morbid and sentimental ; it is in exe- 
crable taste. Enjoy yourself, laugh and be merry ; you 
have played the ridiculous role of victim long enough ; 
one gets weary of watching such a performance on the 
part of the luckiest of all human beings." 

Thoroughly roused this time, the Empress swept out 
of her mother-in-law's presence, swearing to herself that, 
come what might, she would "play the victim" no 
longer, and would follow all this good advice in so far 
as her nature permitted her to do so. 

Far be it from me to hint that "Madame Mere" was 
anxious to see her son's wife take her words too liter- 
ally and embark upon a life of flirtations and deceits, 
but still it is impossible to deny that her strange coun- 
sels might have easily worked a havoc which would 
have rendered her son the talk of Europe, had Elizabeth 
not been cast in a mould that had not one weak point 
in its make. 

46 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

The Empress was — commonplace as the expression 
may seem — a thoroughly honest woman. To her deli- 
cate, fastidious taste there was a sort of horror in being 
compromised ; it was low and common, and only good 
for "mundanes" belonging to the type represented by 

the famous Countess de L , who, by-the-way, had 

long since been replaced in the Emperor's regard by a 
host of younger and yet more attractive persons. 

The chilliness of temperament to which I have al- 
hided before may have had something to do with the 
lovely young sovereign's remaining forever unsullied 
by even so much as a questionable action. She was al- 
ways as loyal to her husband in thought and in deed as 
if he had shown her at all times becoming fidelity. She 
possessed over all men who approached her a charm 
too complete to be ignored ; for, after attracting them 
by her exceeding loveliness, she retained their attention 
and admiration by her many other remarkable quali- 
ties of conversation, wit, and brilliancy ; but whenever 
they attempted to cross the slender barrier which sep- 
arates a courtier from an outspoken admirer, they found, 
so to speak, a wall of ice facing them, impalpable, but ab- 
solutely impassible. The greatest lady-killer or hlagueur 
at court never dared to hint at a possible weakness 
where his fair sovereign was concerned. As for their 
womankind, when they were particularly filled with 
jealous envy they permitted themselves unseemly jokes 
and predictions with the facility which women bring 
into these small and cowardly acts of revenge towards 
those who are too blameless not to unconsciously shame 
them ; but they did not go unrebuked. These amiable 
ladies were, of course, quite certain that the Empress 
had never shared and would never share their follies ; 
but none the less they could not resist the delicate pleas- 

47 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ure of talking evil of one who towered immeasurably 
above them in every respect. 

» In spite of all that was said in that line, it is, how- 
ever, an averred and irrefutable fact that at no instant 
of her life has the breath of scandal had any right to 
touch the Empress's pure, transparent, and unalloyed 
record of virtue — a record of such perfection as has sel- 
dom been attained by so beautiful a woman, or, for the 
matter of that, by any woman, whether beautiful or the 
reverse. 

Once, and only once, did a man so far forget what 
was due to his sovereign, and also to his own honor, as to 
yield to the wellnigh irresistible temptation of avowing 
to her the passion which she had aroused in his heart. 
This scene, which was related to me after many years 
by the unfortunate gentleman himself, took place at 
the palace of Schonbrunn, the favorite summer resi- 
dence of the Emperor, in the immediate outskirts of 
Yienna. It was on the night of a state ball, and the 
Empress, fatigued by the heat and glare of the salons^ 
had stepped out upon the terrace, illumed by the chast- 
^ ened radiance of the full-moon. She was accompanied 

V by the young Count H , a great noble, and at that 

time one of the handsomest and most dashing officers of 
the Emperor's body-guard. Elizabeth had at that time 
attained the fulness of her flawless beauty. Clad from 
head to foot in snowy laces, with great emeralds, her 
favorite gem, gleaming on her white neck and in the 
masses of her perfumed hair, she paced slowly up and 
down along the rose -covered marble balustrade, talk- 
ing to her companion in that melodious low voice which 
had something so captivating about it. Suddenly, as 
they reached a secluded and shadowy corner of the long 

mosaic-paved walk, Count H , losing all control over 

48 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

his feelings, cast himself at her feet, and confessed his 
love in broken, tremulous accents. He was terribly in 
earnest, and words came to his lips like a furious tor- 
rent let loose by the breaking up of ice in the spring — 
words unconsidered and unwise beyond all pardon. 

He clung to the hem of her skirts, which he had 
grasped, his eyes sparkling like fire, his whole frame 
shaking with fierce emotion. With one swift move- 
ment she shook herself free, and looked at him as she 
might have looked at some infuriated animal which 
she wished to cow. He saw that she was implacably 
offended. It was the first time that any one had ever 
presumed to thus insult her. 

^'How dare you!" she exclaimed, almost choking 
with a fury which was all the more terrible because it 
was so foreign to her nature to yield to any outward 
sign of anger. 

"Beloved! beloved! do not repulse me, do not send 
me away from you," murmured the young Count ; but 
he talked to the empty air, for she had already moved 
away rapidly and had entered the palace by a side door, 
leaving him to stagger, blinded by tears of despair and 
of remorse, into the darkness of the gardens. 

This regrettable incident had had a witness in an old 
and valued friend of the Emperor, who was of course 
at once informed of what had taken place. Two days 
later the Count was exiled to his vast possessions in the 
south of Hungary, and during many long years he was 
kept there by the orders of his imperial master. 

Time flew on, bringing on its wings much pain and 
sorrow, as well as countless humiliations, to the Em- 
press. More and more were her slightest actions dis- 
torted. Whenever she appeared in public at Vienna — 
much as she disliked doing so — she was regularly 
D 49 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

mobbed by pushing, struggling crowds wild to scan 
her lovely features as closely as possible, and for weeks 
afterwards her personal appearance, her looks, her 
every gesture served as a theme for the most extraordi- 
nary exaggerations and nonsensical anecdotes, which 
had not a bit of truth in them, nor the least right to be 
set afoot. Her delicate, narcissus-like complexion was 
said to be the result of an enamelling process ; her erect, 
dignified bearing was dubbed with the appellations of 
pride and haughtiness. The common herd failed to 
comprehend her peculiar style of beauty, for it was of 
a kind which had nothing gross or ordinary about it, 
but was ethereal in the extreme, and which indeed was 
retained to the very last. 

One day, at the close of a court ball, as she was 
walking down the steps of the Kittersaal, her long 
train became inadvertently entangled around the feet 
of the Papal J^uncio, who was standing at the head 
of the stairs and bowing low as she passed. Amid 
the covert smiles and sneers of the courtiers forming 
a hedge on either side of the great Hall of Ceremonies, 
the Empress disengaged herself with a rosy blush, but 
later on she was fated to hear many unseemly hints 
and exasperating pleasantries about this so -termed 
" brusque separation of Church and State !" Slight as 
were all these hints and unkind interpretations, yet they 
had the power of unnerving the Empress to an incon- 
ceivable extent, and her heart turned completely from 
her Austrian subjects to give itself unrestrainedly to 
Hungary and to the Magyars. 

At last the intrigues and cabals encouraged by '' Ma- 
dame Mere," and by her many adherents and followers, 
found their fruition, and a complete estrangement — 
not to call it by a more severe name — arose between 

50 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the young couple. The reasons for this wretched affair, 
as discussed then bj the classes and the masses, are 
both too foul and too untrue to be even mentioned 
here. " One lends to the rich," as the old proverb goes; 
and although the Emperor deserved serious blame and 
censure, yet his crime against his lovely and innocent 
consort was by no means so black as it was made out 
to be. ISTevertheless, his " flirtations " had become of so 
flagrant a nature that it was not in ordinary flesh and 
blood to overlook them, far less was it possible for a 
woman of the Empress's proud temper to stand the 
countless slights thus passed upon her. 

A very unpalatable adventure, of which her husband 
was the hero during one of his hunting expeditions in 
the mountains, and of which she was immediately in- 
formed by the no doubt well-meaning and charitably 
intentioned wife of one of his Majesty's confidants and 
boon companions, broke the last restraint upon her in- 
dignation, and without informing anybody of her in- 
tentions she hurriedly left the imperial palace of Yienna 
for Trieste, and set sail for the Ionian Islands, on board 
her yacht, fully resolved never to allow her husband to 
approach her or to speak to her again. 

The amount of scandal caused by this flight may be 
more easily imagined than described, and it is evident 
that even the Empress herself had no conception at 
/ first of the tempest of abuse she was arousing by thus 
abruptly departing from her usual rules of silent suffer- 
ing and reserve. But when once the deed was done 
she would sooner have died a thousand deaths than have 
turned from her course. She was thoroughly unhappy, 
and had been so for a long time, and when a woman is 
unhappy she is never very wise. The step she took was 
extreme, but her youth seems a sufficient excuse, for 

51 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

in youth such wrongs as those which she had endured 
seem to fill earth and heaven with their magnitude; 
yet she brought about her head, and about the Em- 
peror's too, a thousand hornets' - nests of slander and 
useless misconstruction, and there were very few, either 
at home or abroad, ready to admit that if the vengeance 
she took was perchance too drastic, it was at any rate a 
very dignified one. 

E'ot quite so dignified was the pursuit which the, for 
the moment, remorseful Emperor at once undertook 
after his truant Empress. 

The latter, however, was firmly resolved not to give 
him a chance of pleading his own cause, which, had he 
only known her better, he would have understood to be 
practically a lost one. A faithful and devoted Avoman, 

Countess X , who had accompanied her, told me 

OQce that in all her profound experience of human nat- 
ure she had never seen such a change as came at that 
time upon the Empress. She never regretted for one 
instant what she had done ; she certified to the gentle- 
woman in question, over and over again, that she would 
be ready to repeat it at any moment were she called 
upon to ratify her choice, for it seemed to her that it was 
the only thing for her to do in common honor and self- 
defence. All the pent-up anger and disgust which her 
soul contained broke forth with such force that she posi- 
tively frightened those about her. She hardened her 
heart against everybody, and even the mention of her 
children failed to make any impression upon her. 

JSTaturally unselfish to a singular degree, she now 
dropped into the habit of one given up to that most 
blamable of all defects : she wrapped herself in her 
own bitter, poignant sorrow, to the exclusion of every- 
thing else. She faced her self-elected widowhood — the 

52 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

saddest of all — with a kind of strange relish, for at last 
she felt free to be herself, and to drop the mask of cold 
indifference which she had worn so long and so bravely. 

When she heard that her husband had started after 
her and was making his way towards her place of 
refuge, she, without losing a minute, boarded her yacht 
again, and before many hours had elapsed was off to the 
island of Minorca. There again she was informed that 
his Majesty had resolved to track her, and from thence 
she departed immediately, scarcely conscious of any 
feeling or wish save that of escaping him. She crossed 
the Straits of Gibraltar, and never paused until she had 
reached the gray expanse of the Atlantic. 

Despairing of catching up with her, and moreover 
realizing the ridicule with which he was covering him- 
self, the Emperor returned to his own dominions, where 
he arrived a sadder and wiser man. 

If anybody ever felt regret for past indiscretions, 
surely this great ruler, before whom multitudes bowed, 
did so now, and shame as well as remorse filled his cup 
of bitterness to the very brim. The true character of 
his wife began to dawn upon him ; he knew that since 
all eternity many women, both handsome and highly 
born, had suffered, and were suffering from the same 
indignities which he had put upon Elizabeth ; but, from 
the very force of the remedy which she had chosen, he 
gathered that her nature had now changed to that of a 
proud woman, ripened by sorrow beyond her years, and 
that it would be almost an impossible achievement to 
make his peace with her. She might break, but bend 
she would not, whatever the strength used against her. 

While he was occupied in vain regrets and in yet 
vainer plans of future reforms and alterations of cir- 
cumstances, over which he had by his own fault mo- 

53 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

mentarily lost all control, the Empress was first mak- 
ing a tour through the Fjords of Norway, and then a 
conscientious exploration of the Mediterranean coasts. 
Greece, Algeria, and Egypt interested her passionately, 
and she was able to go wherever she listed in absolute 
freedom, for she maintained when she so willed it the 
strictest of incognitos. 

In Algeria she took possession of a charming villa, 
with blue and white awnings shading its verandas, and 
a broad terrace-roof, half hidden in palm and pepper 
trees, surrounded by a large garden, where fountains 
bubbled in pink marble basins. The cool, silent rooms 
were adorned with curious costly things of Arabian 
workmanship — old embroideries in dull gold and silver 
on a ground of silk or brocade, curious antique braziers 
of silver and brass, trailing draperies wrought in silks 
of melting hues, quaint pieces of furniture in mouchara- 
bien work, and great bronze vases, which, according to 
her wishes, were always filled with a wealth of flowers 
and plants. Arab servants, soft of tread and noiseless 
of movement, filled her anterooms, and some Barb horses 
for the carriages and for the saddle took places in her 
stables. In this pretty abode she attempted vainly to 
forget her woes, and led a life that was outwardly at 
least a happy one. 

Alone in the dreamy repose of the large garden, alone 
during the balmy moonlit evenings on the marble ter- 
races, alone in the shadowy stillness of the house, it was 
yet very hard, sometimes, for her to maintain her com- 
posure. She ceaselessly endeavored to conquer these ten- 
dencies to sadness by physical exhaustion. She would 
jump on her horse and gallop off towards the desert in 
the cool hours of dawn or in the starlit evenings. She 
had a deep veneration for this old African soil, so full 

54 





THE EMPRESS AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-EIGHT 



l! 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

of relics of the past, and was never tired of gazing at the 
great rolling plains of orange-colored sand, the awful 
grandeur of which has remained undisturbed since the 
beginning of the world, defying the power of man. 
This sight exercised a potent spell upon her mind, and 
the impression grew upon her that she could not fail to 
find calm and comfort when encircled by these seem- 
ingly endless horizons. A certain sense of awe stole 
gradually into her heart, and soothed her nervousness 
and pain. Many an hour did she spend in the saddle, 
dashing through the dry air in breathless and pauseless 
speed, borne on and on by her fleet Arab horse, sweep- 
ing by villages or peaceful Bedouin douars, passing files 
of camels and of laden mules on her way as she rode 
over the sun -scorched roads of the vast shadowless 
plateaux which are the antechambers of the great Sa- 
V hara desert. She generally rode alone; of assistance 
she needed none. A rider of her merit could spring as 
lightly as a bird into her saddle, and she loved the intox- 
ication of complete solitude and the unchecked rapidity 
of her flight. League after league passed away like a 
dream, and it was only when she felt her horse quiver 
under her with fatigue that she would slacken her pace 
and let the bridle drop upon his neck. 

Days and weeks and months drifted on, and still 
Emperor Franz- Joseph's brilliant court remained de- 
serted by the. fair, graceful figure which had once been 
barely tolerated there, but which now was missed b}^ 
man}^ "Madame Mere" began to observe that she 
could no longer afford to be too sure of her ground, 
and that when, with pious eyes raised towards an un- 
just Heaven, she threw out hints about her daughter-in- 
law's unpardonable conduct and incredible ungrateful- 
ness, a respectful silence was all that she received in 

55 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

return. Men who had always admired the Empress, 
and who, besides, had very good reasons for knowing 
that she was sinned against and not sinning, even raised 
their voices in her defence, but, unfortunately, the truth 
compels me to say that vox femince is often vox Dei, 
and almost without exception women took part against 
the woman who had never shown them anything but 
kindness, and who was now so lonely. They agreed 
with touching unanimity that it was her lack of amia- 
bility which had caused all the trouble, and added that 
the primary reason of every subsequent catastrophe was 
the foolishness of their sovereign — this, of course, was 
murmured sotto voce behind the shelter of a fan or the 
fragrance of a bouquet — in throwing himself away on 
an unsympathetic, heartless girl, whose brain had been 
turned by her sudden magnificent change of circum- 
stances. 

One could write volumes about this period of Eliza- 
beth's existence. It was during this time that, remem- 
bering only too well the many slurs concerning her 
" insufficient education '' which had been thrust at her, 
she undertook to remedy this defect, for which the 
early age at which she had been married was alone to 
blame, and began to study with an earnestness seldom 
to be found in man or woman. She bent her supple 
form over black-letter folios and Latin works, Greek 
authors and old poets, devoting hours and hours to study- 
ing many dead and living languages. She wrote some 
very remarkable descriptions of her travels, and, to 
lighten the tedium of this labor, made hundreds of ex- 
quisite sketches of the places she visited, or played on 
the piano or the zither, for she was a wonderful musi- 
cian. It was then also that weariness of heart from 
her loveless existence caused her once more to turn with 

56 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

all-absorbing ardor to the cherished companions of her 
childhood and early youth — namely, to horses and to 
dogs — for comfort and affection. She went out in all 
weathers, minding neither storm nor rain, boisterous 
winds, intense cold, nor burning heat. Often, drenched 
to the skin, she would walk or ride for days at a time, 
taking no harm whatever, for it is a singular fact that 
an absolute indifference to the consequences of physical 
imprudence often bestows complete immunity from all 
bodily ailments or accidents. Soldiers who rush out of 
the trenches seeking death pass unscathed through a 
hail of bullets, whereas the coward who cringes behind 
a bastion is almost certain to get his deserts, by beino- 
the first to be hit. She still possessed her sensitive hor- 
ror of compassion or of comment, only now it was in- 
tensified to an almost morbid extent, and she preferred 
her poor empty life as a wanderer to the molestation 
and interference of those who had made such a wreck 
of her fair young days. 

" You have acted as if you, and not your husband, 
were guilty," her mother wrote to her. "I do not 
deny that there is nobility in your refusing to retain 
the advantages of your position at court since you 
fancy that you no longer possess Franz's heart, but 
many things which the world need never have known 
ar^ now public property. The higher we stand on the 
social ladder, the less right have we to gratify our own 
private vengeances, or to set ourselves free from painful 
obligations. Remember the good old saying, 'Noblesse 
obliged You are the integrant part of a great nation's 
honor ; you are faithless to your trust and to the tradi- 
tions of your ancestry when you thus act on the spur of 
personal injury and passion." 

At heart Elizabeth knew that her mother was right. 

57 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

She acknowledged as much to me when one day, while 
looking together over a casket filled with old letters, 
she showed me the one referred to above. But yet her 
reply to it was couched in terms which plainly indicated 
that as long as she never did anything to lower her con- 
sort's high estate in the eyes of his people, and as long 
as her own conscience did not reproach her, she was 
justified in declining to exist in hypocris}^, and in what 
seemed to her to be moral degradation. 

Her husband's offences against her were very grave, 
but she was forced to confess to herself, now that she 
had time for reflection, that they were inseparable from 
such a temperament as his. The mistake had been that 
when she had given herself to him she had not known 
enough of life, or of what life brings with it ; of rude 
awakenings from preconceived ideals, of sin, of shame, 
and of disappointment. 

As usual, public rumor excused the husband's weak- 
nesses and distorted the wife's failings. Proud, delicate 
natures disdain the favor of the world, but cruel indeed 
is the manner in which they are made to pay for this 
disdain. She endeavored to school herself to forgive 
the Emperor's numerous so-called affaires de cmur, her 
better judgment showing her that the "Anointed of the 
Lord" are frequently subjected to temptations from 
which ordinary mortals are exempt, especially when, as 
in the case of her husband, they combine in their person 
good looks, supreme elegance, extreme chivalry of be- 
havior, and a marvellous charm of manner. She knew 
that loyalty on the part of the fair sex towards the sov- 
ereign in most cases assumes a terribly demonstrative 
form. They ruffle their feathers and put forth all their 
charms for the purpose of attracting royal or imperial 
favor, with a tenacity which leaves no room for doubt 

58 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

as to their intentions. Elizabeth's deep religious feeling 
urged her, too, towards the side of mercy, but her pride 
had taken arms, and the time had not yet come when 
she became able to conquer it, and to relent towards her 
husband. 

In the meanwhile the Emperor was growing more and 
more uncomfortable, and more and more conscience- 
stricken. He had for a long time excused in his own 
sight his transgressions, and errors, and follies, but the 
sense of his inexcusable disloyalty towards his blame- 
less wife grew insensibly upon him, and he soon could 
no longer palliate or waive them off with sophistry. 
Swayed to and fro by conflicting emotions, at times he 
could scarcely resist the impulse which urged him to 
obtain from her, by hook or crook, an interview which 
would permit him to cast himself at her feet, and to 
implore her forgiveness and mercy; while during the 
hours when he was submitted to his mother's indirect, 
nay even direct, influence, he once more became the 
slave of his wilful, passionate nature, forgot for the 
nonce that men whose names are continually before 
the world should, under any circumstances, keep them 
clean and hold them high, cast all repentance to the 
wind, and believed himself quite sincerely to be the in- 
jured one. 

It is unnecessary to dwell at length upon the details 
of this long conflict, during which there took place a 
few strictly official meetings between the imperial pair, 
meetings that were solely brought about to close the 
mouths of the people, and where, pride gaining once 
more its full strength, the young couple refused with 
lamentable obstinacy to talk together in private even 
for five minutes. 

It goes without saying that the Empress was forced 

59 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

by reasons of state and of policy to make acte de presence 
in her husband's dominions and at her husband's court 
once or twice during each year. But these meteor-like 
visits, made almost unbearable to her by the dread of 
being obliged to resume her conjugal life with her hus- 
band, already called forth, from those who were not well 
informed as to the true situation, remarks regarding 
the sanity of the Empress. Tongues kept wagging in 

V the most lively way. She was said to be erratic, un- 
balanced, morbid, and the world pitied the so-often- 
forsaken Emperor. 

As soon as her official duties were discharged, Eliz- 
abeth, not heeding these slanders at all, left the coun- 
try again and again, to try to regain what peace and 
equanimity she could muster under foreign skies. She 
was heard of as staying at Biarritz, San Eemo, Algiers, 
in Egypt, Greece, or Syria. She loved the Mediterra- 
nean, and once a year at least returned to its shores. 
It was then that she first became enamoured of lovely 
Corfu. 

w I^early seven years elapsed before this detestable 
modus Vivendi came to an end. A great political event 
— namely, the reunion of^two crowns and of two coun- 
tries under the sceptre of the Emperor — made it im- 
perative that the august couple should once more appear 
hand in hand before their subjects. Moreover, the health 
of the Crown-prince was causing much anxiety to his 
entourage. Perchance the child missed the love and care 
of his " silly young mother," so ill-replaced by a grand- 
mother who, in her own estimation at least, possessed 
all the cardinal virtues and several more besides, but to 
whom a just Providence had refused the ownership of a 
truly womanly heart. One cannot have everything! 
Anj^how, the heir apparent's extreme delicacy inspired 

60 





ARCHDUKE RAIJSER, COUSIN OF Til 



E EMPEROR 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the far-seeing with a very natural doubt as to what 
might be the fate of the djmasty if the slender thread 
which bound him to existence should snap asunder, 
and his Majesty was assailed on all sides by his most 
esteemed councillors with entreaties for a 7Xtjpproche- 
ment between himself and the Empress. 

She herself was approached about the matter by 
wise and clever people, who forbore to mention to her 
how greatly her own interests were at stake. This 
would have produced a disastrous impression upon her. 
They argued, instead of this, that her children needed 
her, that her continued absence from the court was in- 
juring them morally and physically; reasons of state 
were also brought forward, and her husband's deep regret 
and sorrow much magnified — although of a truth they 
did exist — until that infinite yearning for affection which 
is wholly outside the instincts of the passions began to 
thrill in her heart anew. She was brought gently and 
securely to the point where doubts about her own read- 
ing of duty as it should be entered her soul. She asked 
herself, with agonized tears, whether in the violent scorn 
of her revolted pride she had not lost sight of the only 
fashion in which duty should be understood. For years 
she had gone upon her joyless path not caring much 
whether she was displaying too much vindictiveness, or 
whether, in cleaving so closely to the traditions of what 
she deemed honor, she had not forgotten the obligations 
of mercy and of forgiveness. 

As I have stated before, she was a very religious 
woman, not in the outward, noisy manner of a higote, 
but sincerely devoted to the Catholic faith, and she now 
allowed the first of Christian virtues — charity towards 
those who have hurt us most — to guide her towards 
pardon. 

61 



^/ 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

The love she had once felt for her husband stirred at 
those times beneath all her wrath, and echoed back in 
her heart. The outcome of all this was that she suffered 
herself to be induced to return and to take up her duties 
again. Many were the tears which she shed kneeling 
before her crucifix, in an anguish of doubt as to what 
she had best decide, before she came to that conclusion. 
But finally her surrender was complete; she realized 
that she could not forever arrogate to herself the right 
of judgment against her lord, and a great peace fell 
over her like a mantle. 

The meeting between them had no witness save the 
Emperor's favorite brother. It was a sad and mournful 
moment. The Emperor looked older, paler, more weary 
than he had done when she had last seen him. She, 
with a beating heart and an ashen face, stood silently 
looking at him, without making a gesture or giving a 
sign of the nervous strain which she felt. He crossed 
the room, dropped on one knee, and bowing his hand- 
some head over her hand, kissed it as deferentially as 
if he were the meanest of her subjects. His lips were 
as cold and trembling as the slender fingers he held. 

"Que Dieu vous garde^^ (May God keep you), he 
murmured. 

She fixed her eyes upon him where he knelt, and then, 
with a gesture infinitely forgiving in its almost mother- 
ly tenderness, she passed her disengaged hand over his 
hair. 

" We have both much to forgive," she said, softly. 



CHAPTER IV 

The ceremonies attending their coronation as King 
and Queen of Hungary were welcome circumstances 
in the official reconciliation of the two sovereigns, and 
greatly facilitated Elizabeth's resumption of her life at 
court. These magnificent ceremonies are still present 
to the memory of all those who witnessed them, and 
aroused the genuine enthusiasm of the young sovereign 
so vividly that never could she speak of them without 
emotion. 

The town was crowded with Magyars from the Bakos 
Plain, Suabians from the mountains west of the town, 
Slowaks from l^orthern Hungary, Servians and Croa- 
tians from the southern districts, and even long-haired 
Saxons from Transylvania, and with different corpora- 
tions, unions, and guilds carrying banners. The honored 
veterans of the war of 1848 to 1853 in their old uni- 
forms, numbering in all sixty thousand persons, lined 
the streets from the Western Railway Station to the 
royal castle, a distance of six kilometres. 

The royal castle of Buda is a marvel of antique archi- 
tecture. It was built in 1769, and ever since 17Y1 the 
hand of St. Stephen has been preserved as a sacred relic 
within its ponderous walls. Every year, on the 20th of 
August, a procession leaves the citadel, the relic being 
carried from there to the Church of Our Lady of the 
Assumption, and back again, to the sound of thrilling 
music, and under a veritable hail of blossoms. 

63 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

On the coronation-day, all those who had been invited 
by the government or the municipal authorities occu- 
pied seats on the official grand-stands. When their maj- 
esties issued from the palace on their way to the cathe- 
dral deafening " eljens " were raised, and were kept up 
almost uninterruptedly. The Emperor and Empress 
rode in a magnificent state carriage drawn by eight 
white horses. At the moment that the procession be- 
gan to move, a salute of one hundred and one minute- 
guns was fired from the citadel. The procession was 
headed by mounted police, followed by the carriage of 
the governor of the city and by that of the chief of 
police, and was the most brilliant pageant imaginable. 

The escort of one hundred and eighty-two aristocrats 
was an especially magnificent sight. Twelve pairs of 
cavaliers, whose horses were led by armor - bearers in 
Magyar dresses, were followed by eight mounted mag- 
nates, each of whom carried a banner. The others all 
came in pairs, each horse being led by one or two 
armor-bearers. All the nobles wore the splendid dress 
of the Hungarian magnate, adorned with gold embroidery 
and precious stones from the kalpak — or head-covering, 
which is surmounted with herons' feathers — down to 
the high boots. The reins, gilt stirrups, and the shab- 
racks and golden scabbards of the scimitars were cov- 
ered with diamonds and jewels, many of them being 
w^orth a fortune. The imperial carriage was accom- 
panied by the adjutant-general and by the Hungarian 
minister. 

The procession was followed by six carriages contain- 
ing court officials, and by several hundreds of the car- 
riages belonging to members of the episcopacy and the 
aristocracy. Most of the coaches and harnesses were 
covered with gems and gold. The long train went at 

64 




THE EMPRESS AT THE TIME OF HER CORONATION AS QUEEN OF 

HUNGARY 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

a foot pace through the gloriously decorated streets, 
amid the cheers of several hundred thousands of 
spectators. The English know how to cheer, but their 
" hurrahs " are not to be compared for volume of sound 
with the thundering shouts heard on that day. Maidens 
dressed in white showered flowers on the road followed 
by the procession, invoking blessings on the heads of 
their handsome sovereign and his lovely consort. 

So great was the enthusiasm aroused by the appear- 
ance of the Empress-Queen, that it is scarcely wonder- 
ful if her whole heart went out anew to a people who, 
by the warmth of their reception, the many tokens of 
admiration and love bestowed upon her, presented so 
vivid a contrast to the manner in which the Teutonic 
portion of her husband's subjects had comported them- 
selves towards her when the imperial crown had been 
placed upon her brow, almost thirteen years before. 
Her predilection for Hungary from henceforth became 
more than ever marked. She learned the terribly 
difficult Magyar language with her usual facility, de- 
voting herself with such energy to this task that she 
absolutely amazed her instructors, and most of her 
time was spent in her marvellous Castle of GodoUo, 
near Budapesth. 

During the years which I had the joy of spending 
there near her, we wandered untiringly together a-horse 
and a- foot, iA the green, moss -carpeted forests and 
on the boundless Puszta. Everything interested her, 
and, like her husband's celebrated relative. Archduke 
Joseph, who actually wrote a Zingari grammar and is 
the greatest authority on the origin and habits of the 
Tzigane people, she delighted in visiting the camps of 
these copper -hued, glittering - eyed beings, who have 
music and poetry born in them, and who are to be 
E 65 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

found in the entire purity of their race only in those still 
semi-barbaric regions. 

There never was, I truly believe, a rider worthy of 
being compared to Elizabeth. Both in the field and in 
the riding-school she was absolutely matchless with re- 
gard to seat, grace, and ability, and although her slen- 
der, dainty build would hardly have caused one to believe 
it, her strength was very great, and there was no horse 
that she could not ride when once she had made up her 
mind to do so. The opinion of Franz Gebhardt on the 
matter, who was the foremost rider of the Spanish school 
at Yienna, is worthy of being recorded. 

He declared, many a time, that she outshone any 
rider of her own sex, for she had a knack of putting 
herself into immediate and almost mesmeric communi- 
cation with her horse, and of making it show off to the 
best advantage, never in any way hampering it by the 
slightest false movement on her part. She aroused 
the delight of the true connoisseur by the perfection of 
her steps, courbettes, changements de jgied^ and all the 
other delicate and intricate secrets of the difficult art of 
high-school riding. 

Not the least remarkable feature of her fondness for 
horses was the extraordinary, almost hypnotic, influence 
which she possessed over them ; the most unmanage- 
able animals would let themselves be approached and 
petted by her. She used to throw the colonel in com- 
mand of the Keit Lehren Institut at Yienna into abso- 
lute convulsions of terror by occasionally bearing down 
upon him with the request to " send to the riding- 
school a couple of your wildest specimens for us to 
have a little fun with !" The hapless colonel would at 
first try to evade obedience, but the Empress was per- 
emptory, and he had to give in, though his bronzed 

66 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

face would turn ghastly pale under its tan as he 
watched the slender, graceful figure of his sovereign 
vault into the saddle and perform wonders of horse- 
womanship on horses which he would not have dared to 
let an ordinary cavalry officer ride. 
^ Her friendship with Ehza, the celebrated haute -ecole 
rider at Renz's, gave rise to much unkind comment, but 
the truth is that Eliza, now married to a distinguished 
French officer, was of unimpeachable repute, and that 
her admirable powers as a rider and breaker-in of horses 
gave her the best of introductions into the favor of the 

Empress. ^t/'^' 

Count P ^ , who is one of the wealthiest magnates 
in Hungary, and who breeds horse-flesh on a very ex- 
tensive scale, owned in 1878 a magnificent coal-black 

4 stallion possessed of so fiendish a temper that for six 
months his grooms had been unable to enter his box, and 
were forced to feed him from pails provided with six-foot- 
long handles. The Empress heard of this, and would 

( not rest until ,we had driven over to see the Count, or, 
much rather, to see the Count's restive pensioner. JSTo 
prayers or entreaties could prevail when the Empress 
had once made up her mind, and so, nolens volens, our 
host was forced to conduct us to the farther corner of 
his superb stables, where " Black Devil" — such was the 
amiable animal's name — reigned supreme. 

Without a minute's hesitation, and disregarding the 
exclamations of horror from the on-lookers, Elizabeth 
walked deliberately to the box, and chirruping in a pe- 
culiar manner to its occupant, she drew back the bolt 
and coolly entered. Those present held their breath, 
expecting every moment to see the dauntless woman 
trampled upon and torn to pieces. ISTo such thing, how- 
ever, happened. At first the startled beast snorted and 

67 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

laid back its ears, but soon the great fiery ejes softened 
and grew tender, and the Empress was suffered to pat 
the dilated nostrils and arched neck. 

" Come here," she called out to me ; " he is as gentle 
as a lamb, poor old boy, but he is in bad need of a 
brushing up !" 

Where she had gone self-respect forbade me to refuse 
to follow, so I promptly obeyed her command. Be- 
tween us we polished up '' Black Devil," and ultimately 
left him whinnying with fond gratitude, a vanquish- 
ed tyrant ! So astonished was the Count, and so re- 
lieved also at finding that no accident had happened, 
that he craved permission to present the dusky beauty 

^ to her Majesty. The gift was accepted, but it took a 
longtime before the four-footed "Devil" could be in- 
duced to endure the presence of a man near him, and 
we had all the work we could do in attending person- 
ally to his demoniacal needs. However, the Empress 
ended by obtaining such good mastery over him that 
he used to follow her about like a dog in the park and 
grounds of Godollo. 

When we were at Godollo we were in the saddle as 

V^ early as half-past four in the morning, guiding our horses 
through the tall, sweet-scented grasses, and jumping 
over hedges and ditches, with little variation save the 
changing of our mounts until the eleven o'clock de- 
jeifjner d la fourcheUe. 

Franz Gebhardt rode with the Empress a great deal, 
not only in the riding-school, but also in the plains sur- 
rounding Godollo, and his admiration for the Empress's 
terrain reiten, as field-riding is called in Austria, was 
as great as that which he felt for her performance in 
the riding - school. The kindness which his imperial 
patron showed him was boundless. She caused his 



THE MARTYKDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

daughters to be brought up at her expense, and shower- 
ed gifts of all kinds upon himself and upon his family. 

A very amusing incident took place during one of 
my sojourns at Godollo, where Franz Gebhardt was 
also staying at the time. During her high-school ex- 
ercises in her private manege^ the Empress was in the 
habit of having the necessary musical accompaniment 
to the horse's paces played to her on a piano, which 
stood in the gallery, by one of her maids-of-honor, a 
pretty little countess, who, however, played abomin- 
ably, and, for the most part, completely out of time. 
One morning Herr Gebhardt, who was wandering about 
the castle, came upon a magnificent Bosendorfer grand- 
piano in one of the distant rooms of the left wing. 
Being passionately fond of music, and especially devoted 
to Schumann, he sat down before the instrument, and, 
believing himself to be entirely alone, began to play the 
"Traumerei" in the most masterly fashion. Suddenly 
the door was softly pushed open, and the dainty little 
head of the Empress appeared. 

" I did not know that you possessed this talent, too. 
Surely if you can play like that you can do me the great 
pleasure of playing a few polkas for me in the riding- 
school this morning. The Countess is not here, and she 
will know nothing about it, for you must understand," 
added the Empress, very earnestly, " that I would not 
have her feelings hurt for the world. She thinks that 
she is doing me a great service by her playing, and she 
does not realize that she cannot play at all." 

I had foUoAved the Empress into the room, and on 
hearing this I could not restrain myself from laughing 
outright. Herr Gebhardt, in spite of the gravity he 
tried to assume, laughed too, and the three of us finally 
gave way to our merriment until the tears fairly ran 

69 



THE MARTYKDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

down our cheeks. Thus was it that once, and only 
once, during that summer did the Empress indulge in 
a little good music while on horseback ; for, of course, 
V " the feelings of the little Countess were on no account 
to be hurt." 

Her wanderino^s over the Piiszta would often brino: 
Elizabeth within sight of an encampment of Csikos, 
and she never failed to stop her horse and begin to 
chat with these children of the Magj^ar plains, in whom 
she felt a peculiar interest. She brought them welcome 
gifts of golden-hued Turkish tobacco, and examined 
their troops of semi-wild horses with the schooled eye 
of a perfect equestrienne and of an earnest admirer 
of good horse-flesh, which delighted the strange herds- 
men. Picturesquely arrayed in a long, white, linen, wide- 
sleeved smock, or shirt, embroidered in vivid colors, in 
loose white zouave pantaloons tucked into high boots, 
and with a bunch of Puszta-grass and a heron's feather 
in the band of his wide - brimmed hat, the Magyar 
Csikos presents the European counterpart of the Amer- 
ican cow-boy, the South American Guacho, and the Afri- 
can Bedaween. His life is spent on the vast prairies of 
Hungary in tending the great herds of semi-wild horses, 
the breeding of which constitutes one of the most profit- 
able and staple features of Magyar industry. His life 
is by no means devoid of privations and hardship, and 
3^et he would not exchange it for any other that might 
be offered to him. While the summer lasts he often 
suffers thirst — that thirst which is one of the terrors of 
prairie and desert life. His food, which he carries 
about with him in the little, two-wheeled, canvas-cov- 
ered cart, which is his only dwelling-place, frequently 
gives out, and sometimes he has to wait for many days 
before the purveyor of the Csikos comes on his round 

70 



THE MARTYRDOM OF x\N EMPRESS 

to replenish the stock of all the scattered members of 
the strange brotherhood. !N"otwithstanding these draw- 
backs, the life on the Piiszta is possessed of a freedom 
and charm which a true Magyar cannot resist. The in- 
nate and romantic poetry of the immense flat landscape, 
green as an emerald, with here and there a clump of 
low birch-trees to vary its monotony, is to the Csikos 
w^hat the ever- rolling waves are to the sailor — indis- 
pensable to his happiness. The Csikos is courageous, 
robust, and indifferent both to extreme cold and over- 
powering heat. As a rule, he is of middle height, with 
well-cut features, a dark skin, bright and intelligent black 
eyes, and the long, pointed mustache, known through- 
out Europe as la moustache hongroise. He wields the 
lasso with just as much mastery as does the Guacho, 
and to my mind surpasses both the latter and the West- 
ern cow-boy in horsemanship. A perfect rider, he breaks 
in the colts belonging to his herd without the assistance 
of either curb, saddle, rein, bit, or whip. Simply sling- 
ing a rope halter over the young animal's head, he con- 
quers it b}'' the iron pressure of his muscular legs and 
the magical skill with which he poises his body on the 
back of his fretting, curvetting steed. 

Hard indeed is the destin}^ of the Hungarian Csikos, 
but fascinating also in the extreme. A little bread, a 
little salt pork, a flask of wine, a bag of tobacco, and, 
to shield him from the cold winds of the spring and 
late autumn, a YixxgQ pelisse made of sheepskin, the wool 
being worn inside, and the outer leather richly em- 
broidered in red, gold, yellow, and blue — these suffice 
for his comfort and happiness. I should not, however, 
omit from this equipage of his the piece of matting 
with which he shelters his fire on windy nights, and his 
can of paprika, or red pepper, Avith which he flavors the 

71 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

national dish of "gulyas," an absolute necessity to every 
true-born Magyar. 

It can easily be imagined what a delightful change 
from the monotony of their every -day life it was 
for the Csikos to see us galloping up towards them, 
bringing them, so to speak, a breath of worldly air and 
of novelty, as well as many a little offering which 
pleased and flattered them immensely. 

After her definite return to Austria, Ehzabeth, with 
the buoyancy of youth, commenced to plan out for 
herself a course of existence which she decided in her 
mind would make up for all the dreariness of the past 
years. She looked forward to regaining completely the 
lost mastery of her husband's heart and her place in 
her children's lives. 

A cruel fate was, however, creeping upon the track of 
the ill-fated imperial couple. For hardly had they had 
time to enjoy the first days of this, their second honey- 
moon, when the terrible news of the assassination of 
the Emperor's beloved brother. Emperor Maximilian of 
Mexico, reached them. Far away beyond the seas the 
unfortunate Prince had met with a foul death at the 
hands of the people whose ruler he had become at their 
own urgent solicitation. For them he had abandoned 
a most happy life, led partly at his brother's court and 
partly on the lovely shores of the Adriatic, where he 
owned the fairylike Palace of Miramar, which he had 
created, and of which he was very justly proud. 

This castle is a spot which appears like unto the 
realization of the wildest dreams of an Oriental imagina- 
tion. Perched on the extreme edge of a rocky promon- 
tory, and built entirely of the purest, most spotless 
marble, the snow-white building, with its background of 
emerald-green hills and woods, is beyond any adequate 

73 



^/ 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

description. From the main terrace one looks straight 
down upon the gently rippling water sixty feet below, 
and so pure and transparent is it that the eye is able to 
penetrate its full depth of over twenty fathoms, and to 
clearly distinguish the ribbon-like algce, and the pearly, 
many-hued medusae which sway to and fro beneath 
the glassy surface. When I visited Miramar with the 
Empress, I was much struck by the extreme transpar- 
ency of the sea, and she — who was passionately fond of 
study, and had an extraordinary fund of knowledge — 
explained to me that there are some oceans where under 
seventy-five fathoms of water one can plainly distin- 
guish the pebbles and shells on the sandy bottom. 

We walked often on the narrow edge of beach below 
the rocky cliffs, which continue in a seldom-interrupted 
line to the right of the castle grounds, interesting our- 
selves in the maritime plants and polyjn which abound 
there in the shallow pools of water. We sometimes 
found clusters of pure tuft-coral, sea anemones which 
looked like a perfect kaleidoscope of palest green, soft 
yellow, vivid lilac, tender blue, and deep crimson ; star- 
fishes, angel-wings, and ipricklj fimgi, which we collected 
for our little museums. The medusm, whose opal rose- 
bordered umbrellas, escalloped with a band of blue, were 
thrown by the gentle cerulean waves at our feet, Eliz- 
abeth would invariably push back into the water, saying, 
in her low, melodious voice : 

" It is too bad to let them be scorched and sucked up 
by the sun-rays; they suffer just like any other animated 
being created by God's hand." 
k/' Her continual dread of hurting somebody or some- 
thing was very characteristic of her, and she would 
step out of the path she followed to avoid crushing a 
beetle or an ugly caterpillar crawling on the ground. 

73 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It would take a much cleverer pen than mine to por- 
tray the wellnigh fantastic architecture of the Palace 
of Miramar ; for minarets fretted and carved like lace, 
pointed turrets, terraced roofs, adorned by groups of 
exquisite winged statues, mediaBval battlements, and 
drawbridges which savor of the fifteenth century, are 
mingled together in a picturesque and magnificent, if 
somewhat bewildering, confusion. The gardens and ex- 
tensive grounds are another marvel which it is diflBcult 
to describe, so great is their beauty. The vegetation is 
a mixture of the European and the tropical, each plant, 
tree, or shrub having been carefully selected from the 
finest of its kind. Firs and Siberian arolla grow side 
by side with luxuriant bamboos and giant-leaved banana 
plants. French poplars and silvery olive-trees tower 
above great clusters of palmettos and cacti, while tall 
date-palms and dark-foliaged magnolias shelter with 
their deep, refreshing shadows strange mosses and creep- 
ers and web -like ferns brought from the far north. 
In every direction fountains very nearly as superb as 
those of Versailles cool the atmosphere with their pris- 
matic spray, while even on the hottest day a cool prom- 
enade is to be found under the superb avenue of syca- 
mores, which entirely shut out every ray of sunlight. 
This avenue leads to glass houses where orchids, born in 
the most equatorial regions of the world, bloom all the 
year round in luxuriant splendor. The interior of the 
castle is fully worthy of its matchless exterior, and 
contains many treasures of art in its high-ceiled state 
apartments and long galleries. The study, once Maxi- 
milian's favorite room, is an exact reproduction of the 
\J cabin on board his beautiful yacht. The Miramar, upon 
which the handsome young Prince undertook his dis- 
astrous voyage to his future empire. 

74 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It is a curious fact that Maximilian's consort, a 
haughty, ambitious, narrow -minded Belgian princess, 
should have been, during the years which preceded her 
own coronation as Empress of Mexico, the greatest ally 
of " Madame Mere " in the latter's persecution of Eliza- 
beth. Indeed, it was the jealousy with which she was 
filled on account of her beautiful sister-in-law's superior 
rank that led her to urge her kind and somewhat weak 
husband to accept a sceptre which was bound to bring 
to him and his both disappointment and misfortune. 

After the tragedy of Queretaro, Elizabeth's attitude 
of unselfish devotion towards her grief-stricken husband 
deeply touched all who witnessed it. It seemed then 
as if, with the exaggeration of self-censure peculiar to 
all generous natures, she strove to atone for any pain 
which she might have given him — although it was so 
justly given — by her long estrangement from him. 
She stood by his side nobly, and he found great con- 
solation in looking for support and for comfort upon 
his young wife's firm and reliant nature. Her long 
wanderings in comparative solitude had matured her 
mind and brought out many qualities which, had things 
been otherwise, might have lain much longer dormant. 
Afraid of nothing, never watching for the impression 
which she produced, and absolutely indifferent to 
what both men and women thought of her, she was 
far above the starched and haughty social system in 
which, nevertheless, her whole life seemed doomed to 
be henceforth plunged. A ministering angel to all 
those who suffered, she resumed her position at court 
with a dignity of attitude, a kindness of heart, and a 
loftiness of purpose which simply amazed and silenced, 
for the time being at least, her worst detractors and her 
most bitter enemies. 

75 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

In the following spring another little girl was born to 
the imperial couple, and from tenderest babyhood her 
training and education were the Empress's chief care. 
She was never tired of repeating to the governesses and 
tutors of her two elder children that she wished them 
to remain as much as possible unspoiled by the world ! 
She endeavored to teach them her own love of the open 
air, of the great mountain solitudes, and of the influence 
and ways of nature. 

The Crown-prince was a most interesting child, head- 
strong, generous, plucky, and at the same time extraordi- 
narily tender-hearted. At ten year.^ old his resolute air 
and charming manner made him a universal pet, but 
under the influence of his paternal grandmother he had 
acquired a waywardness, touched with some pride and 
some vanity, which pained his mother whenever she no- 
ticed it. From the moment of her return she strove and 
succeeded, too, at last, in preventing the evil effects of the 
adulation with which his entire entourage was eager to 
wait on the slightest whim of this little heir to a mighty 
throne. Fortunately he had many compensating quali- 
ties — he was very affectionate and sensitive, and easily 
moved to self-reproach. Well trained to all bodily ex- 
ercises, he fell rapidly into the habit of accompanying 
his mother when she rode out on one of her many met- 
tlesome horses, and she never pleased him better than 
when she called him her little comrade ! 

Instinctively the bo}^ felt that his mother's immovable 
calm and extreme gentleness covered some great and 
mysterious suffering. He had been so long kept away 
from her that at first he felt a sort of shy reticence in 
her presence ; but this soon wore off, and a feeling of 
absolute adoration for her crept gradually into his 
heart. 

76 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

The motherhood in Elizabeth welled up with extraor- 
dinary force ; all her memories of past pain and sorrow 
melted into an infinite tenderness for her darlings, and 
their presence healed up most of the wounds that had 
been dealt to her. On the summer following baby Ya- 
lerie's birth, the Empress spent several months in her 
dear Upper Austrian mountains with the Crown-prince 
and his two sisters. 

Many are the delightful little scenes of her children's 
early years which the Empress recorded in what she 

^ used to call her "day-book," and which consisted in 
reality of a series of volumes wonderfully written in 
different languages, and interspersed with pen-and-ink 
and water-color sketches, exquisitely done, to illustrate 
the various periods which she described. 

Of what value must that book now be to those whom 
she left behind, provided she did not put into execution 
the threat, which she once made in my presence, of de- 
stroying this treasure of souvenirs which, so she argued, 
contained too many painful reminders of sorrowful days 

j that had fled ! It is largely because I had the privilege 
of reading and admiring portions of this book that I 
am able to reconstruct so many incidents of Elizabeth's 
life. 



CHAPTER V 

On a fresh cool morning the Empress was in her 
favorite room at the Kaiser villa at Ischl, a long, low 
apartment, with deep embrasures which she had filled 
with ferns and flowers. The furniture was of carved 
Indian work, and the walls were hung with old Gobe- 
lins, representing the siege of Troy, while sketches, 
books, and large stands filled with tall groups of flower- 
ing reeds, pampas - grass, and pink foxgloves gave this 
charming retreat a cosey and attractive aspect. The 
imperial lady had been giving the last touches to a small 
V statuette representing a Greek shepherd-boy and his dog, 
which she had been modelling to while away the time. 
At last, dropping her roughing chisel, she sank upon 
the low couch near the open window. The breeze 
came in through a screen of blue passion-flowers, stir- 
ring the folds of her white cashmere gown and lifting 
the soft waves of her hair from her forehead. She sat 
quite still, one shapely hand resting on the head of a 
huge St. Bernard dog, which was gravely sitting by her 
side and looking lovingly at her with his honest brown 
eyes. 

Suddenly the door was gently pushed open, and Kudi 
and Gisela came into the room carrying a large basket 
of woven rushes between them, filled with forget-me- 
nots and myrtle. They came up to her, exclaiming : 

" This is for you, mamma ; we gathered them in our 
own garden." 

78 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

With a smile of pleasure she took the children on 
her lap and kissed them tenderly. Gisela sat content- 
edly on the Empress's knee, nestling her golden head 
against her mother's breast ; but Kudi, already a big 
boy, jumped down and began to trot about the room, 
looking at all the pretty knick-knacks which littered the 
tables and cabinets. 

" Mamma," said he, suddenly, " why does everybody 
like me better than they do Gisela?" 

'' Why do you think so, darling? I don't think it is 
the case at all." 

" Oh, but indeed it is ; probably I am better company 
than Gisela." 

" What a conceited little man you are getting to be, 
Eudi!" exclaimed the Empress, trying to conceal her 
amusement ; " you are a great deal too sure of your own 
superiority and perfection. God does not like con- 
ceited children!" 

The boy looked up at his mother and smiled. " Oh," 
said he, quietly, " I am not afraid that God should not 
love me, because I love God and I do not see him, so 
God who sees me is sure to love me." 

Astonished at this extraordinary remark, the Em- 
press said, gently: 

'^ It is when God sees how naughty you are sometimes 
that he does not love you, dear!" 

"God mademe, did he not, mamma? So he ought to 
be pleased with me," replied the little fellow, quite un- 
disturbed. "But, mamma, why did God make ugly peo- 
ple like Countess X , instead of making everybody 

beautiful like you?" 

The Countess in question was one of her Majesty's 
ladies-in-waiting, and, thanks to her brusque, authorita- 
tive ways and ill-favored features, was the children's 

79 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

hete noir. The Empress could hardly repress her merri- 
ment. 

" You are too young to talk of such things," said she. 
" Tell me what you want me to do this morning to 
amuse you both till papa comes in to luncheon ?" 

"Oh, do sing us something, mamma!" exclaimed 
Eudi, pleadingly. 
\J Elizabeth walked over to a large harmonium which 
stood near the open window. She sat down before it, 
and after striking a few chords which echoed through the 
stillness of the chamber, she sang Schubert's " Serenade." 
She was a great musician, having a dreamy, mellow 
voice with an immense tenderness of interpretation. 

The last words of the melody thrilled very sweetly 
through the silence. Elizabeth looked up. Rudi was 
leaning against the instrument. His eyes were full of 
tears and his face was pale. 

" I am sorry that I spoke as I did just now," said he, 
tremulously. " It always makes me good to hear you 
sing, mamma." She drew him towards her and kissed 
him. 

" Do you want me to sing again ?" said she. 

" Please do, mamma," said he, wistfully. 

After a moment's pause her hands wandered light- 
ly over the kej^s, and called up the sweet, plaintive 
" Yolkslieder " she had heard so often in Austria sung 
by the peasants, and to which she had listened so many 
times when drifting slowly in her boat on the green 
waters of the Gmiinden-See. Suddenly with one deep, 
plaintive sigh her voice ceased. When she raised her 
eyes she saw that the Emperor had noiselessly entered 
the room and was standing before her. Their eyes met 
with some of the old feeling awakened into their depths, 
and Rudi, who was watching them, said, suddenly : 

80 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Papa, I think that the angels must have faces like 
mamma." 

Certainly his father thought so too. 

On another occasion, late in the autumn, the Em- 
press was sitting in a room which she called her studio, 
with her three children about her. This studio was of 
oval shape, hung with old Flemish tapestries and Avith 
a collection of Meissen china figures on carved brack- 
ets upon the walls. On the open hearth great logs of 
crackling wood were burning, and all around there was, 
as usual, the greatest profusion of flowers. An old 
Dutch clock, which stood between two of the windows, 
was half covered by an Australian creeper, the waxy 
blossoms of which peeped out through clusters of shin- 
ing green leaves. Opening out from this room there 
was a conservatory, filled with camellias, gardenias, 
ferns, and orchids, artistically grouped about a pink 
marble fountain, in the crystal waters of which silver 
and gold fishes from Madagascar were swimming, sur- 
rounded by masses of fragrant tropical flowers in Sat- 
suma boxes. 

" Mutzerl," as baby Yalerie was called, was asleep on 
her mother's lap, and Rudi and Gisela were dancing up 
and down the large room, which was lighted only by 
the bright rays of the moon and by the fitful gleams 
from the fire. The scene had something fairylike and 
unreal about it. Gisela in her short lace petticoats 
was pirouetting on the tips of her tiny feet, bounding 
back and forth so lightly and gracefully that it would 
have seemed in keeping with this elf-dance to see the 
little silhouette suddenly glide up the broad, slanting 
moonbeam which fell from the lofty window, and dis- 
appear in the dark-blue, star-studded sky. Her little 
slippers hardly made more noise as she danced than the 
F 81 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

petals of a rose dropping on the polished floor. There 
was no other sound throughout the dim, shadowy room. 
The Empress held her breath as she watched the little 
girl, and Eudi, who had flung himself down on a bearskin 
at Elizabeth's feet, lay quite still. Gisela was then an 
uncommonly graceful child. Her long curls, brilliant 
eyes, and small pink mouth made her look like a picture 
by Sir Joshua Reynolds. There was charm in every 
one of her movements. Suddenly the little white shad- 
ow alighted on the edge of a large arm-chair, and re- 
mained poised like a dragon-fly on a willow -branch, 
nodding her curly head, and pressing her pink hands 
over her little beating heart. 

" Brava, darling !" exclaimed Elizabeth. " You are a 
regular little tallerina. Who taught 3^ou to dance like 
that?" 

"JSTobody, mamma," laughed the little fairy, and bound- 
ing through the room she sprang upon the ottoman on 
which her mother was sitting, and bent over the sleep- 
ing baby with a look of adoring admiration upon her 
small features. Marie -Yalerie was an extremely pretty 
infant, and, according to Rudi's statement, looked " just 
like a very lovely wax doll that could breathe, laugh, 
and cry, too, sometimes." 

It is needless to say that she grew up to be her mam- 
ma's pet, and indeed these two were not often apart. 
" Mutzerl " had inherited her mother's love for flowers, 
and as soon as she could rely upon her strong little 
limbs to carry her wherever she listed, she started min- 
iature gardens of her own at all the different palaces 
where the court stayed in turn. 

One fine summer morning '' Mutzerl," now five years 
old, coaxed the Empress to see her " private grounds " 
at Schloss Godollo. These " private grounds " were a 

82 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

sunny corner where she was allowed to dig and plant 
at her will, and where trees were represented often by 
branches pulled from the neighboring bushes, and stuck 
jauntily into the ground b}^ the imaginative embryo 
gardener. An obliging stable-boy had taken upon him- 
self the task of helping " Mutzerl " in her horticultural 
pursuits, and, thanks to him, the child could now boast 
of growing some real flowers, planted in an orthodox 
fashion, an achievement which filled her with delight 
and pride. She had set her heart on presenting " mam- 
ma " with a bouquet gathered among the valuable 
specimens of geraniums, gloxinias, and dogroses which 
had outlived many a revolution, and it was for this 
purpose that she had been so anxious to show her 
around her possessions. The Empress duly admired all 
the treasures exultingly displayed to her by the enrapt^ 
ured little girl, but at last ventured to observe : 

" Don't you think, darling, that this garden would 
be still prettier if kept a little more in order?" 

" Oh, that's Yanos's fault," promptly answered " Mut- 
zerl ;" " he's always meddling here !" 

Elizabeth could hardly repress a smile, for Yanos 
was the ill-fated stable-boy who spent his leisure hours 
in repairing the damage done by the wee Archduchess 
in her garden. She lovingly watched the child as she 
pulled several rosebuds from a bush, at the cost of her 
own tiny fingers, and brought them triumphantly to 
her. "Mutzerl " looked up from under her broad-leafed 
hat with an expression so absurdly anxious for praise, 
that she bent down and kissed the glowing face tender- 
ly. " Mutzerl " held her fast around the neck for a mo- 
ment, and as Elizabeth released her she said, solemnly : 

" You are a very good mamma, and I love you very 

much." 

83 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

*' Why do you love me, darling?'' asked the Empress, 
fastening the flowers in her bosom. 

" Because you are so pretty and nice, and because you 
do all I wish." 

" Do I ?" 

'' Yes, and I want very much to ask something now." 

" Well, what is it you wish, sweetheart ?" 

" Oh, mamma, when Christmas comes I want to have 
a lot of poor little children come to a Christmas-tree 
that I will fix all by myself." 

Much touched by the sweetness of the idea, the 
Empress consented, of course, and " Mutzerl " laughed 
gleefully, and trotted through the gardens by her side 
perfectl}^ contented and happy. 

That same evening, Elizabeth was alone in her dress- 
ing - room, reclining in the cosey depths of a large 
arm-chair. Her hair was hanging in a loose luxuriance 
on her shoulders, and she was wrapped in a pale lilac 
neglige of softest Indian texture, with a profusion of old 
lace at her throat and arms. Her dressing-room was 
one of the prettiest nooks imaginable, with its silken 
hangings, its silver swaying lamps, its toilet -table 
shrouded in Valenciennes laces, and its cut-crystal vases 
full of flowers. She sat there with an open book in her 
lap, the soft light from the lamps shining on her fair 
skin, on her sapphire-blue eyes, and on the shimmering 
wealth of her hair. She was thinking of the little dar- 
ling girl asleep in the room next to her own, and of the 
pretty instincts which already, at that early age, made 
her think of giving pleasure to others. A proud smile 
played about her lips as she lay back in her chair, her 
head resting on her arm, with that grace which was 
peculiarly charming because it was so natural and un- 
studied. Suddenly she started as a light sound reached 

84 



THE MARTYRDOxM OF AN EMPRESS 

her through the open door of the adjoining room, from 
which a faint light was streaming. She arose and 
stepped into "Mutzerl's" sleeping -apartment. The 
little white bed of mother-of-pearl inlaid Cairene work 
looked very peaceful under the rosy glimmer of the 
shaded night-lamp. The child was fast asleep, her 
head thrown back on the pillow, her arms above her 
head. Her wavy hair had been pushed away from her 
forehead in her slumber, and she looked even more strik- 
ingly lovely than when awake. She had been dream- 
ing, and even now she moved uneasily in her sleep, 
rufHing her curls with her chubby hand, and thrusting 
the coverings from her. The Empress bent down to 
cover her, and as she did so she heard her mutter : 

'' The little children will be happy at my Christmas- 
tree." 

For a moment Elizabeth stooped over the unconscious 
child, gazing upon the rounded, flushed cheeks, and an 
ardent prayer went up from her heart : 

" O God, spare my children to me, and let their lives 
be pure and blessed I" 

Her face, whenever she was thus praying inwardly, 
was enough to make one think of Montgomery's ex- 
quisite verse : 

" Prayer is the burden of a sigh, 

The falling of a tear, 
' The upward glancing of an eye, 
When none but God is near." 



CHAPTER VI 

jN'owheee was Christmas celebrated with so much 
fervor as at the Austrian court, until the time when the 
relentless hand of death robbed the imperial couple 
of their beloved Rudi. Before that supreme sorrow 
had overtaken them it used to be the most joyful day of 
the year for the Emperor and the Empress. Christmas 
Eve was a double feast^ as it also was Elizabeth's birth- 
da}^ Then, surrounded only by those she loved, the 
Empress's coldness and silent restraint would always 
vanish, her reserve break up, and she would become 
absolutely transformed by what touched her sympathies 
and her affections. 

From the day of the little scene between Yalerie and 
her mother, which I have attempted to describe in the 
previous chapter, there always were two Christmas-trees, 
one on the 23d of December, which the little Archduch- 
ess decorated with her own hands for a hundred poor 
children selected from among her especial proteges^ and 
one on the 24th for the imperial family. The great fir- 
trees, glittering with gold and silver nuts, rosy -cheeked 
apples, and with myriads of little lights to illuminate 
the thousands of beautiful toys, were indeed things to 
admire. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon of the 23d the poor 
children's tree was lighted up in the Rittersaal, a splen- 
did gallery-like room, with a lofty, arched ceiling, where 
stained - glass windows, Flemish tapestries of untold 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

value, draperies of tawny velvets, and great escutcheons 
of preciously enamelled metals half -covered the finely 
carved and inlaid wainscoting. Every frame and mir- 
ror, every one of the double row of grim damascened 
sets of armor which stand on each side of the long; 
" 'Saal," was garlanded with mistletoe and holly. Clus- 
ters of Christmas-roses and banks of snow-drops peeped 
forth from traihng wreaths of ivy gracefully disposed 
in every available corner. In the gigantic porphj^ry 
hearth a fire of aromatic logs burned, adding its soft 
glow to the dazzling little flames of the candles on the 
Christmas-tree. 

When the court lackeys, in their state liveries, had 
opened the doors and drawn back the heavy portieres, 
the troop of enraptured children thus admitted to de- 
lights worthy of Paradise bowed reverently, but with- 
out shjmess — for they knew that they were loved there, 
and heartily welcome, too — and then ranged themselves, 
the boys on the right and the girls on the left. Arch- 
duchess Yalerie was a picture to see as she advanced 
towards them, a joyful smile on her young lips, and her 
small hands filled with beribboned parcels, like some good 
little fairy about to distribute her lavish gifts. Each 
child received warm clothes, boots, caps, handkerchiefs, 
woollen underwear, fur-lined gloves, and toys, to say 
nothing of " goodies," as " Mutzerl " called bonbons of 
all kinds. The happy youngsters gave expression to 
their ecstasy by jumps and bounds, and shouts of merry 
laughter, just as unrestrained as if they were in their 
own homes, instead of within the walls of the impe- 
rial palace. When the noise had somewhat subsided, 
the Archduchess invariably asked as her reward to hear 
them sing the '^'Kaiser's Hymn." For a minute all was 
still, then the grand melody would roll out under the 

87 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

high, emblazoned ceilings, the fresh young voices going 
upward, like the carol of a hundred larks, intoxicated 
by the mere joy of living. When these glad tones 
had once more dropped into silence, the doors at the 
lower end of the Kittersaal were thrown open, reveal- 
ing a large hall w^here a substantial feast had been 
prepared. 

Oh ! how all those youthful eyes would widen with 
surprise at the sight of the long tables loaded with huge 
sides of cold roast-beef, haunches of venison, great plump, 
truffled turkeys, and enormous piles of daintily cut sand- 
wiches. Wonderful cakes studded with candied fruit, 
showers of bonbons in capacious silver shells, pyramids 
of grapes, and peaches, pears, oranges, and pineapples, 
completed this gargantuesque tout enseonble, above which 
floated the delicate aromas of tea, coffee, bouillon, and 
chocolate. 

> Later on, when the overjoyed children had been dis- 
missed, their httle stomachs well filled and their tiny 
hands burdened with presents, Yalerie was intrusted 
with another duty, equally delightful to her. The 
Mayor of Yienna, when Christmas was spent in the 
Austrian metropolis instead of at Godollo, as often was 
the case, was summoned to the Hofburg, and received 
at her hands a small portfolio containing the Christmas 
offering of the imperial couple to the city hospitals, ten 
thousand florins, and an order for hot-house fruit, cigars, 
illustrated papers, and magazines, as well as quantities 
of flowers. 

On the Sith of December, immediately before the 
family dinner, after which the second Christmas-tree 
was to be lighted, a touching little ceremony always 
took place in the Empress's private salon. There her 
children and the Emperor, with a very transparent but 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

none the less extreme assumption of secrecy, laid out 
a multitude of birthday souve7iirs amid a mass of flow- 
ering plants. Then all the candelabra were lighted, and 
Elizabeth was solemnly led in by Yalerie to receive the 
congratulations and embraces of those she loved best 
on earth. The smiles upon her sweet face, and the sus- 
picion of a tear in her glorious eyes, were the best 
thanks that she could ever have offered, for they 
brought to their very highest point both the radiance 
of her beauty and the charm of her personality — 

"A perfect woman, nobly planned, 
To warn, to comfort, and command, 
And yet a spirit still and bright, 
With something of an angel light " — 

and Christmas Avas one of the occasions selected by the 
Empress to instil in her children's hearts the continual 
thought of other people's comfort and pleasure, which 
was one of her own most striking characteristics. 

One of the finest traits of the Empress was certain- 
ly her untiring charity, and her methods were always 
notable for the extreme delicacy of feeling which she 
showed in all things. It was she who caused the Vien- 
nese to realize the very decided difference which ex- 
ists between men reduced to poverty through no fault 
of their own, and men whose destitution is the result of 
lazy or extravagant habits, and it was she who showed 
them how to treat the former as fellow - citizens who 
stand in need of help, and the latter as criminals de- 
serving severe reproof if not punishment. Through her 
influence numberless families are now redeemed from 
misery, many youths are saved from sin, many men 
aided to begin new and prosperous lives. 
f In the year 1872 an association of 400 ladies and no- 

89 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

blemen, belonging to the loftiest ranks of society and 
presided over by Elizabeth herself, was formed for the 
purpose of supplying wholesome dinners to the poor at 
the lowest possible price. Each member gave a sum of 
700 florins towards the initial outlay, and with this money 
the first volkskuchen (people's kitchen) was opened. To- 
day there are fifteen of these in Vienna, and in the course 
of the year food is sold in them to the value of more 
than 1,200,000 florins. 

The volkshuchen are large rooms, with great windows 
letting in both sun and air, and provided with oak tables 
and benches, which are kept scrupulously clean. The 
floor is paved with marble, and at the lower end of the 
hall a wooden counter serves as a division from the 
actual kitchen, where many cooks are at work pre- 
paring food. All classes, from poor university stu- 
dents to ragged-looking tramps, receive a kindly wel- 
come. 

Every day over ten thousand persons dine in the 
volkshuchen^ and the marvellously low price at which 
the food is sold can only be accounted for by the huge 
quantities in which it is bought and prepared. The 
complete dinner, excellently cooked, costs two groschen, 
and a breakfast of coffee, bread-and-butter, and some 
kind of stew can be obtained in the early morning for 
one groschen. From six to nine in the evening supper 
is served at the cost of one groschen, and is generally 
composed of soup, cold meat, and pudding. The ladies 
and gentlemen who manage this superb association 
have done wonders. Eight or ten ladies belonging to 
the court circle make a point of being in each kitchen 
while the dinners are being served. 

It is, one must confess, a rather touching sight to watch 
the lovely and aristocratic court beauties of Yienna, 

90 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

wearing snowy aprons over their elegant walking-dresses, 
as they distribute the food to the poor, ill-fed wretches 
who crowd the room. A kind smile or word of sym.- 
pathy always accompanies the action. It often happens 
that one of these charming ministering angels grows 
deeply interested in the case of one or another of her 
guests, and thus becomes the means of doing a great 
deal of practical good. 

It is not by a lavish and unreasonable expenditure 
that the Yiennese secure comfort for their deserving 
poor, but by infinite attention to details, endless care, 
and hearty sympathy with suffering, for in spite of 
their long-kept-up animosity against the Empress, her 
influence has been great even at Vienna in all matters 
pertaining to kindness and generosity ; and this good 
which she has worked is certainly one of the finest 
monuments which she has left behind her. 

She was kind by temperament and by nature, and 
loved to see smiling, happy faces around her, and to 
give beautiful presents, just as she loved to do good on 
every possible occasion. It was not a mere sense of 
duty which prompted her, for all she did was performed 
cheerfully, silently, for the most part almost as if she 
were not aware of what she was accomplishing. Soft, 
conciliatory words, small and great services rendered 
smilingly, without fuss or bustle, were habitual to her. 
She went on her way feeling that her task was never at 
an end, thinking of the morrow, of those she had not 
yet succored, of the many hands there were yet to 
fill, the many sorrows still to console, the countless 
miseries that, in spite of all she already had done, re- 
mained to be relieved. Here, again, I am compelled 
to quote some lines which suit her and describe her ad- 
mirably : 

91 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

"No simple duty was forgot, 
Life liad no dim and lonel}' spot 
That did not in Ler sunsliine share ; 
No caprice of mind, 
No passing influence of idle time, 
No popular show, no clamor from the crowd, 
Could move her, erring, from the path of right." 

Marie- Yalerie remained her motber's almost constant 
companion, even after slie attained maidenhood, and 
was being educated by the highly gifted and talented 
y Bishop Ronay, who had previously been the tutor of her 
ill-fated brother. From her tenderest childhood the very 
atmosphere in which she moved was redolent of fidelity, 
of courage, and of dignity. She grew up to be ex- 
tremely fascinating, and has not to this day a grain of 
self-consciousness or of self-assertion. Her appearance 
as a girl was ethereal and delicate, but that delicacy of 
mould sheathed nerves of steel, and her slender, supple 
frame could stand more fatigue than that of many a 
stronger-looking woman. She swam like an otter, rode 
almost as well as her mother, fenced and shot with 
great skill, and was a sure = footed mountaineer. Her 
education had been pushed further than is generally 
the case with young girls of her position. She learned 
y Latin and Greek, together with seven or eight living 
languages, drew and painted with great talent, and 
sang with a singular richness and power. 

She has inherited all her mother's love for sport and 
out -door life, and delighted, when at Ischl, in taking 
long and tiring walks, for she was never so happy as 
when among the mountains. Late in the autumn she 
used often to don a fur-lined riding-habit, and, mount- 
ing a pony well used to the hills, she would wander on 
the frozen paths leading to the snow -covered peaks 

92 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

above. She knew every step of the way up to the 
spurs of the mountains, and would ride till the ascent 
grew too steep for her horse ; then, leaving the latter 
with her attendant Yaegers, she would seize her alpen- 
stock and go on her way over the gigantic bowlders, 
breathing with delight the icy blast from the lofty sum- 
mits. Of course there was danger in such expeditions, 
but the young Archduchess knew what she was about, 
and kept to the right path regardless of the fierce winds 
tearing at her clothes and of the proximity of the yawn- 
ing abysses beneath her. 
The marriao:e of Archduchess Yalerie to her cousin, 
Archduke Francis-Sal vator, was of unusual interest not 
only in her father's dominions but also abroad, by 
reason of the fact that her imperial highness had since 
her birth been the favorite child of her parents, the 
living token of the reconciliation brought about be- 
tween them by the statesmen of the dual empire on 
the eve of their coronation as King and Queen of Hun- 
gary. Moreover, the young Archduchess, concerning 
whose unaffected ways and kindly heart innumerable 
anecdotes were current among the people, had always 
been a kind of second self to her mother, and her loving 
comforter and consoler at the time of Rudolf's death. 

Much anxiety prevailed among her Majesty's entou- 
rage respecting the manner in which she would bear the 
separation when the Archduchess entered upon her mar- 
ried life at Castle Lichtenberg, near Wels, a garrison 
town some hours from Vienna, where the regiment 
to which the Archduke belonged was stationed. The 
Empress, however, as she always did in the important 
moments of her life, showed her sense and judgment by 
conquering the distress caused by this separation, and 
looked to the frequent visits that were to be exchanged 

93 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

between them to make up for the dreariness caused 
by the absence of her beloved girl. The marriage has 
turned out exceedingly well, the young couple being 
entirely suited to one another. 

Her former teachers were right when they unani- 
mously spoke in the warmest praise of Valerie's literary 
abilities, for she has given evidence thereof by the pro- 
duction of several poems and admirable essays which 
have been published and enjoy a wide-spread sale. 

That the Empress, like her daughter, was a remark- 
able writer of prose is not so very generally known as 
that she wrote exquisite poetry. Upon a shrine, dedi- 
cated to the Blessed Yirgin, near Ischl, there are in- 
scribed a few short verses by her, so beautiful and so 
touching that those who see them come nearer to read- 
ing aright the soulful nature of the Kaiserin than it 
has been given to most of those who knew her to do. 
It is untranslatable ; at least, I humbly confess that I 
would be unable to do so without destroying its deli- 
cate charm and deep, pious feeling. I therefore give it 
here in the original German, just as Elizabeth of Aus- 
tria wrote it : 

"O breite deine Arme aus 
Maria, die wir grtissen ; 
Leg, schtitzend, sie auf dieses Haus 
Im Tlial zu deinen Fiissen. 
O segne dieses kleine Nest, 
Mag rings der Sturm auch. wuthen, 
In deinem Schutze steht es fest, 
Voll Gnaden wirst du's hiiten." ^ 

Once Archduchess Marie -Valerie surprised her par- 
ents by composing, for the Empress's birthday, a charm- 
ing piece which she, together with Archduchess Sophia- 
Marguerite, and Prince and Princess Auersperg, enacted 

94 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

on a beautifully decorated stage which they had caused 
to be erected in one of the state apartments of the Hof- 
burg. At the end of the representation Archduchess 
Yalerie appeared upon the scene, alone, wearing the con- 
ventional costume given to the figure which represents 
Austria, with a crown on her head and a sceptre in her 
hand, and pronounced the epilogue, consisting of some 
verses also composed by herself, and which gave ex- 
pression to her love, respect, and gratitude towards the 
Empress. 

The latter, with tears of pleasure in her eyes, embraced 
her child fondly, and turning to Adolph Sonnenthal, who 
had superintended the whole mise en scene, and who 
had been the teacher in dramatic art of the young Arch- 
duchess, thanked him warmly, saying : 

^' I have to thank you already for many and many a 
delightful evening spent in listening to you from my 
box at the Burgtheater, but to-day I must express espe- 
cial gratitude for the exquisite hours which I have just 
enjoyed." 

This little festival had taken place quite en famille, 
nevertheless Sonnenthal was invited by the Empress to 
remain for the family supper. Elizabeth had a great 
admiration for the talent of this, one of Austria's great- 
est and most talented actors, and showed him marked 
kindness upon different occasions. While staying at 
San Eemo she visited an Austrian lady who owns a 
villa there, and while being shown round the house she 
came upon an apartment beautifully decorated with 
palms and flowers. 

"This," said the Empress's host, "is the room where 
my dear mother died, and I preserve it, as your Majesty 
can see, like a sort of little memorial chapel." 

"Your mother was a woman of taste," replied the 

95 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Empress, pointing to a marble bust of Sonnenthal 
which stood on a pedestal in a corner, " since she ap- 
preciated our great artist." 

Alexander Strakosch was also a great favorite of 
Empress Elizabeth's. The late Archduke Charles-Louis 
told him one day, after a recitation which the genial 
Strakosch had given at the Archduke's beautiful castle 
of Wartholz : 

" I wish that my sister-in-law, the Empress, could hear 

you," and thereupon arranged to bring him to the Hof- 

burg, where he was presented to Elizabeth by the then 

V grand mistress of her court, Countess Kornis. In 1888, 

iA(h j^^st after Strakosch's return from a tour in Xmerfca, 

^ (C he was requested to come to Ischl, and to appear at the 

^ Kaiser Yilla. The Emperor was present on that occa- 

^.ifSr sion, and shaking him warmly by the hand, his Majesty 

exclaimed : 

" You have done us much honor in America by your 
wonderful success." 

After the evening meal, which he was asked to share 
with the imperial family, and during which both the 
Emperor and Empress talked in the most gracious and 
amiable fashion about America, Strakosch recited the 
forum scene from "Julius Csesar." When he had fin- 
ished, the Empress said, smiling: 

" It is wonderful ! While you were speaking I closed 
my ej^es, and actually fancied myself transported to 
ancient Rome." 

She then asked him to recite the " Two Grenadiers," 
that beautiful poem of Heine's, and also " The Pilgrim- 
age to Kevelaar," and while he was reciting it great tears 
ran down the Empress's cheeks. Heine was her favorite 
poet, and her reverence for him was extreme ; she pos- 
sessed all his works, some of them in manuscript, and 

96 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

there are many touching things that could be told about 
her kindness to the great poet's family. 

Marie - Yalerie is her mother's imitator in being the 
untiring protectress of the poor and the afflicted, and 
the lessons which she learned in her youth with regard 
to this have borne and are still bearing fruit, although, 
perhaps, just as was the case with Elizabeth, justice is 
not always done to her by the common herd. 

\J Ever ready to propagate cruel absurdities concerning 
the Empress, the short-sighted, frivolous, and superficial 
society of the Austrian capital remained only too often 
bUnd to her innumerable acts of charity. Often, in the 

>/ early hours of the morning, she would glide out of her 
palace either at Vienna or at Budapesth to proceed 
on errands of mercy, accompanied by a trusted, confi- 
dential attendant. Elizabeth never knew fear. She pen- 
etrated into the darkest, poorest, and roughest quar- 
ters, where were huddled together the fierce multitudes 
that breed anarchy and that make revolutions. She was 

i^ perfectly safe among them. ]^o one knew who she 
was, but her courage, her gentleness, and her open- 
hearted generosity caused the wretched creatures whom 
she visited to regard her in the light of an angel. They 
never suspected that the kind lady who succored their 
cruel need was the cold, proud, and haughty sovereign 
who was taxed with heartlessness and indifference by 
both high and low in the great country over which her 

V husband reigned. ISTumerous families redeemed from 
misery and suffering, many slovenly homes saved from 
despair, many foul places purged to moral and practical 
cleanliness — these were some of the results of her Maj- 
esty's visits to the slums of her empire. She could go 
.. unharmed where the police would hardly venture, for 
the people grew to love her, and would not willingly 
G 97 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

have hurt a hair of her head. She helped the unfortu- 
nate unconditionally, and consoled them just as did her 
namesake, Elizabeth of Hungary, centuries ago. 

I remember many a secret errand upon which we went 

\J together, unaccompanied by even so much as a servant, 
at dusk, in the most squalid quarters of Yienna or Buda- 
pesth. Dressed in the plainest fashion possible, we 
wended our way through narrow alleys and ascended 
damp, mouldy staircases, where it hardly seemed safe 
to tread, in quest of the dark lodgings of the truly de- 
serving poor, who belong to a class too proud to become 
actual beggars. Many a sick-bed was brightened by 
flowers and fruit, of which Elizabeth always insisted 
upon carrying her fair share. Her sweet face brought 
light and joy to the miserable wretches tossing their 
fevered bodies on dingy beds. 'No sore was too repul- 
sive, no task too fatiguing for her slender, imperial 
hands, and instead of the cant which is used by so 
many when bent on such errands, she would find some 
encouraging, cheering words of hope and sympathy, 
untainted by religious exaggerations and preachings, 
which went straight to the hearts of the sufferers. 

Sometimes our adventures in this direction were 
fraught with rather amusing episodes. For instance, 

\/ late one evening we were riding side by side through a 
straggling outskirt of Pesth, followed at the regulation 
distance by an old and faithful groom. Passing in front 
of a lonely hovel separated from the main road by an 
apology for a garden, where some weeds and gaunt 
shrubs grew, we were startled by hearing the most 
awful screams for help proceeding from the ram- 
shackle, crazy-looking plank building. The voice was 
that of a woman evidently in the greatest of distress. 

M On the impulse of the moment we both leaped from 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

our horses, and rushing to the door and pushing it open, 
we found ourselves in a villanously dirty room, where a 
huge ruffian of a man Avas dragging a woman about the 
floor by her luxuriant, unbound hair, kicking her vigor- 
ously as he did so. Before I realized what was happen- 
ing, the Empress had laid her heavy hunting-crop about 
the fellow's face, and so surprised was he at our unex- 
pected appearance and at this vigorous onslaught that he 
dropped his victim and stared at us in blank amazement. 
His astonishment was, however, as nothing to ours when 
the ill-used dame sprang to her feet and, putting her 
arms akimbo, demanded, in her shrillest Hungarian and 
with a torrent of invectives, what " we hussies " meant 
by interfering with her husband. The Empress, who 
possessed a considerable amount of humor, and in whom 
the sense of the ridiculous was singularly developed, 
burst into a peal of laughter, and taking from the side 
pocket of her habit a couple of gold ten-gulden pieces, 
she handed them to this model benedict, exclaimino:: 
"Beat her, my friend. Beat her all she wants. She 
deserves it for being so loyal to you." 

Elizabeth adored children, and was gentle and moth- 
erly to rich and poor alike. At the close of the Vienna 
exhibition of 1873 she took into her service a little 
Berberine boy named Mahmoud, who had accompanied 
the Egyptian government mission to Austria. He had 
acted as page of the Cairene house which the Khedive 
Ismail had caused to be erected in the Prater and had 
presented to her imperial majesty. The little fellow, 
with his great black eyes, his bright and picturesque 
dress, and his dusky skin, looked for all the world like 
one of Barbedienne's enamelled bronzes. The Empress 
became much attached to the tiny African, and was ex- 
ceedingly kind to him. When the cruel cold of the 

99 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Yienna winter affected his lungs, accustomed as he was 
to the hot winds of the African desert, and he fell ill 
with pneumonia, she nursed and tended him with her 
own fair hands. Mahmoud literally worshipped his im- 
perial mistress, and could hardly bear her out of his sight. 
This intense devotion, however, had its drawbacks, for 
he was morbidly jealous of her, with all the unreason- 
ing jealousy of a child and the savagery of a wild little 
animal. He became the playmate of young Arch- 
duchess Yalerie, and the horror of the Austrian aristoc- 
racy knew no bounds when they saw their Empress's 
favorite child, who looked like a dainty harebell with 
her slender figure and bright gossamer skirts, contin- 
ually in the company of the flat-nosed and thick-lipped 
African boy. The Empress, on being informed of the 
indignation which she had unwittingly aroused by her 
kindness to Mahmoud, whom she was accustomed to 
describe as 'niein Meiner schwarzer Kdefer (my little 
black beetle), became imbued with the spirit of defiance 
which she so often displayed where her Austrian sub- 
jects were concerned, and she responded to their mur- 
murs by having the two children — the white and the 
black, the imperial princess and the slave boy — pho- 
tographed together, arm in arm. Haughty, patrician, 
exclusiv^e Yienna lifted its hands to Heaven in its in- 
dignation, and this one act of hers added thousands 
to the already large number of Elizabeth's detractors. 
Many even then began again to hint that the Empress 
was not quite right in her mind, and that her extrava- 
gances were certain signs of latent dementia. 



CHAPTER VII 

Religious as was the Empress, yet she hated exaggera- 
tion in everything, and the breadth and lucidity of her 
mind made her regard fanaticism with a sort of horror. 
She was so deeply shocked by the tragic history of the 
Carmelite nun, Sister Barbara, which, when brought to 
light in 1869, was the cause of the bloody riots which 
took place at Cracow, that she immediately used her 
influence in order to have the whole horrible affair 
cleared up. Indeed, it was through a petition addressed 
to the Empress by the victim's brother that the gruesome 
secret of the Polish Carmelite convent was disclosed. 

Sister Barbara belonged to a noble Polish family who 
had forced her to enter religious orders in order to 
prevent her from marrying a young olBScer of Lancers 
with whom she had fallen in love, but who unfort- 
unately had neither rank, title, nor fortune. On en- 
tering the grim old convent of Cracow, she ceased all 
communications wdth her family, by her express desire, 
as it was believed at the time; and it was not until 
more than twenty years had elapsed that one of her 
brothers, inquiring from the religious authorities what 
had become of his beautiful sister, was given to under- 
stand that she was not any longer on the list of the living. 
Struck by the shiftiness of the answer, he proceeded to 
the palace of the Archbishop of Cracow, and throwing 
himself at the venerable prelate's feet, entreated him to 
find out if Sister Barbara were really living. The arch- 

101 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

bishop took steps without delay to discover the truth, 
but the abbess of the Carmelite convent in which Sister 
Barbara was supposed to have died not only refused to 
answer any questions about the matter, but, availing her- 
self of the inviolability of convents, absolutely declined 
to allow any government official to pass the portals. In 
the mean while the brother had sent off his petition to 
Empress Elizabeth. She promptly sent it to the Arch- 
bishop of Cracow and with it a personal letter, begging 
him at once to institute a search in the convent. 

The archbishop, who was a just and enlightened man, 
secured the assistance of the police, and surrounded by 
a battalion of gendarmes^ commanded by Count Spauer, 
one of the most dashing and plucky cavalry officers of 
the Emperor's army, forced an entrance into the convent 
in spite of the invectives and desperate resistance of the 
infuriated nuns. The latter actually went so far as to 
arm themselves with stones, and the military narrowly 
escaped being ignominiously repulsed by these holy 
women, against whom, of course, they dared not draw 
their swords. 

After a long search, the archbishop and his party 
descended into the dungeons, fifteen feet under the 
ground, where they heard low groans and moans, which 
sounded more bestial than human, proceeding from a 
half-bricked-up cell in a narrow stone passage. In this 
living tomb, seven paces long by six paces wide, they 
discovered, by the light of the torches they carried, a 
naked woman, with long dishevelled hair, crouching in a 
corner of her filthy prison. At the unaccustomed sight 
of light the unfortunate creature began to scream wuth 
terror, and, springing to her feet, tore at the granite 
w^alls with her talon-like nails. After much labor the 
bricks, which more than half closed up the entrance, 

102 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

were removed, and the raving inmate of the cell was ap- 
proached. It was found that both her feet and hands 
were loosely bound with steel chains, so as to avoid the 
remotest possibility of escape on her part, and that her 
whole body was covered with ulcers, while her tangled 
tresses were simply alive with vermin. This was Sister 

^ Barbara Ubryk, insane, and without the power of speech 
— the consequences of her incarceration of over nine- 
teen years in this chamber of physical and mental tort- 
ure. The archbishop, shocked beyond measure, had 
the abbess brought before him, and frightened her into 
confessing to him that this barbarous deed had been per- 
petrated by her orders, and in punishment of what she 
called a crime committed by Sister Barbara. The 
''crime" in question consisted in her having, during 
the first year of her convent novitiate, kept up a 
correspondence with her former admirer, and having, 
it appeared, consented by letter to elope with him. 
This infraction of all convent rules was brought to the 
notice of the abbess by a nun Avhom poor Barbara had 
been forced to take into her confidence, and who was 
glad to ingratiate herself with the mother-superior by 
betraying her miserable companion. With the help of 
this nun, the abbess conducted Sister Barbara to the 
underground dungeon at the dead of night, and bound 
her with chains. With their own delicate hands the two 
women built up the entrance of the narrow prison with 
bricks, leaving only a square opening through which 
bread and water were handed three times a week. No 
one else was let into the dismal secret, and as the 
dungeon was supposed to be haunted, the moans and 

^ cries of the prisoner, if ever heard by the members of 
the community, were attributed to supernatural visitors, 
and not one of the nuns ever dared to approach the 

103 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

steps leading down to the subterranean part of the great 
building. The archbishop, whose indignation knew no 
bounds, placed the abbess, together with her accomplice, 
under arrest, in a cell guarded by sentries, until he could 
refer the matter to his Holiness the Pope. Sister Bar- 
bara, who meanwhile had been clothed and fed, he took 
to the city lunatic asylum. 

When the story became known to the people of Cra- 
cow, they collected around the convent w^here the ab- 
bess was imprisoned and threatened to burn not only 
it but all the convents with which the town abounds. 
The military had to be called out again, and the terri- 
ble riots which ensued lasted long and caused much 
bloodshed. Subsequently the abbess, and the nun who 
had been her confidante and helpmate, Avere severely 
punished by the Pope. 

In the year 1876, while on a visit to Cracow, I was 
taken to see the lunatic asylum where Sister Barbara 
had been placed. The director of the asylum asked me 
whether I should like to see the heroine of the riots 
of 1869. To this I readily acquiesced, and I was soon 
ushered into a large, sunny room, brightened by flow- 
ers and daintily furnished. J^ear the window, sitting 
in a large chintz-covered arm-chair, was Sister Barbara, 
her hands crossed in her lap and her large blue eyes 
staring vacantly at a cage full of canaries which stood 
on the window-sill. Could this placid, white-haired, 
aristocratic-looking woman be the same who had seven 
years before been rescued from an awful martyrdom, 
and who then had been more like a wild animal than a 
human being ? However, it was so ! Gentle treatment 
and good care had restored her health, but neither her 
\ reason nor her power of speech. Her attendants told 
me that she seemed to have forgotten all her tortures. 

104 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

She was now always quiet, and apparently incapable of 
feeling any kind of emotion ; birds and flowers arrest- 
ed her eye, and sometimes brought a faint smile to her 
still beautiful lips, but otherwise she was absolutely ob- 
livious of her surroundings. 

I spoke to her, but she took no notice of what I said, 
and after a few moments I left her still gazing at the 
little imprisoned songsters, who, perchance, reminded 
her of the time when she also was a captive, though in 
a far more dreadful cage. 

The Empress was so deeply interested in what I sub- 
sequently told her of my visit to Sister Barbara that 
until the latter's death, which occurred some ten years 
later, she frequently sent flowers to the poor, forlorn 
creature, and also some pretty and valuable singing- 
birds, since birds and flowers alone had retained the 
power of awakening a ray of feeling in her dimmed 
soul. 

It is hard to think that death alone should have 
been able to tear the veil which obscured the sight of 
Elizabeth's detractors. The Austrian press, from the 
very moment that the electric wires flashed to Yienna 
the awful news of her assassination, took upon it- 
self to deluge her memory with encomiums and en- 
thusiastic praise. A Yienna daily paper published an 
article, entitled " The Misjudged Empress," in which it 
confessed " that the Yienna press frequently misinter- 
preted the noble motives and intentions of the Empress, 
who was a highly strung, sensitive character, and whose 
fine feelings, abhorrent to every form of self-advertise- 
ment, were sometimes mistaken for pride and dislike by 
the Yiennese." 

Some of these articles came under my notice lately, 
and I cannot help feeling the bitterness of these j^ost- 

105 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

mortem retractions, which seem of but very little use, 
and which do not in any way modify my opinion when 
I said at the beginning of this work that " not a pen is 

\l being grasped in vindication of so many injustices." 
For eulogies accorded to the dead are comprised in all 
funeral ceremonies, and could corpses, lying under the 
sod of our cemeteries, or beneath the flag-stones of gor- 
geous mausoleums, hear the pompous speeches pro- 
nounced by people who hated and reviled them during 
their lives, they might possibly indulge in a cadaver- 
ous grin at the hypocrisy of good, generous humanity ! 
The multitudes which thronged the streets of Vienna 
to witness the gorgeous procession following Elizabeth's 
coffin was composed of those self-same mourners who 
accompanied, ten years before, that of Archduke Ru- 
dolph — " Unser Rudi " — and who wept and sobbed and 
tore their hair, while in their hearts lurked the conviction 

A that the young Prince was first an assassin and then a 
suicide. Ten 3^ears, I say ! It is a long time, and yet 
during all those days and months which composed them 
nobody has really tried to put the truth, the naked, un- 
adorned truth, of Rudolph's responsibility in the matter 
before the public. One writer — who called and still 
calls himself a friend of the ill-fated Prince — has pub- 
\J lished a booklet about the Mayerling tragedy. But, 
alas, the so-called "excuses" which he puts forward to 
exonerate Rudolph from blame are two-edged tools, 
which would cut and slice what might otherwise remain 
sacred about his memory were that pamphlet more gen- 
erally read — which, thank goodness, it is not ! 

Mother and son have been misunderstood, misjudged, 
ah, how severely ! But now they are reunited, and all 
the sorrows and disappointments of their earthly careers 
have passed from them — all the unkindness done to 

106 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN' EMPRESS 

them by so many, the small and the great. Indeed, 
in so far as their home life was concerned, thej might 
both have quoted the following lines : 

" Small slights, neglect, unmixed, perhaps, with hate, 
Make up in number what they want in weight. 
These, and a thousand griefs minute as these, 
Corrode our comfort and destroy our ease." 

And what about their other countless miseries ? 

The bond which united Rudi to his mother was a very 
strong one; she was so youthful and full of life and 
beauty that he felt towards her as if she had been but an 
elder and beloved sister. When apart from each other 
they were in the habit of corresponding daily, and many 
of the letters thus exchanged were exquisite bits of lit- 
erature. The style of each was remarkable, and they 
wrote to each other in many different languages, es- 
pecially in English, which they both loved to speak and 
to write. A letter written by Rudi at the end of the 
seventies from the Istrian coast, where he had gone to 
visit a friend, began as follows : 

"My Dearest, — When I arrived the sun was shining brightly on 
the top of the pink granite cliffs, shedding its golden light over the 
undulating plains of the table-land, which looked like a sea of dewy 
grasses and odorous flowers. Far down below us there was a hazy, 
shimmering line that showed where the sea was breaking on the 
Adriatic shore. "I never come so far south without wishing, more 
than ever, that you were with me, you who love and appreciate this 
beautiful part of the world so much. In this spring-tide of the year, 
this season of youth and of love, of bird's songs and of budding roses, 
I found Philip in the stately, melancholy rooms of his villa, which 
stands on a steeply rising slope. He was arranging pictures, tapes- 
tries, statues, bronzes, and old brocades and embroideries, in the pict- 
uresque and artistic litter which he knows so well how to produce. 
Outside, in the grand shady gardens, hundreds of nightingales warbled 
their morning sonnets in the groves of camellias and of ilex -trees. 

107 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It is a delightful place. I fell at once in love with its moss-grown 
terraces, where miles of ivy and of clustering vines run riot beneath 
immense cedars and magnolias. You would be charmed with the 
dreamy, peaceful repose which reigns here supreme. I am going to 
ride a great deal during my stay, in order to explore the country to 
right and to left ; it is far more poetical that your dear Ireland, mother 
mine, etc." 

fU- This was written shortly after the Empress's return 
¥ from her first hunting-trip to Ireland. Fond as she was 
of hunting in her own country, yet she delighted in the 
time which she spent in Ireland, and when, in 1879, she 
first arrived on the Emerald Isle, she gave~vent to a 
perfect burst of enthusiasm concerning the excellent 
conditions under which one could hunt there, and es- 
pecially with regard to the dangerous obstacles with 
which the country is so thickly studded. She w^as then 
preserving a semi-incognito under the name of " Countess 
of Hohenembs," and made herself very comfortable at 
Summerhill, Lord Langford's residence in County Meath, 
which she had taken as her hunting-box. She brought 
with her fifty-two horses, ten of which were her especial 
favorites, being magnificent Irish hunters, and including 
" The Boy," " Jupiter," " Domino," " The Doctor," " In- 
vestment," "Beauclerc," "Lorraine," "Othello," and 
" Black Prince." 

" Bay Middleton " was her pilot from the day of her 
very first hunt in Ireland. This took place on the 24:th 
V' of February, 1879, the meet being at Dunshaughlin, 
and the field including Lord Spencer, then Yiceroy of 
Ireland, Prince Eudolph Lichtenstein, and many other 
well-known riders. 

February of the next year found Elizabeth back in 
County Meath. It was during that visit that a certain 
fox she w^as pursuing sprang over the wall of Maynooth 
College, and rushed across the exercise-ground, where 

108 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS ' 

the pious young students were pacing to and fro. What 
was the astonishment of these youths when the wall was 
also cleared by a lovely woman sitting with amazing 
skill a magnificent hunter, all flecked with foam and 
mud. It was the Empress of Austria, who had followed 
the fox through thick and thin, and evidently also 
through a great deal of water, for she was dripping wet. 
Dr. AValsh, who was then principal of Maynooth College, 
hurried into the grounds to receive the Empress, who 
had so unwittingl}^ and so unceremoniously entered his 
domain, and observing that she was running great dan- 
ger of catching a severe cold in her present drenched 
condition, offered her a warm wrap. No feminine gar- 
ment, however, was to be found in that school for young 
priests, and Elizabeth had to accept Dr. Walsh's own 
cloak, which she donned, laughingly remarking that 
w^ith it a doctor's degree ought to be conferred upon 
her ! On the following day the Empress sent Dr. Walsh 
a diamond ring of great value, and later on presented 
the college with a superb silver statue of St. George and 
the Dragon, as well as with a set of magnificent vest- 
ments, but the academic coat she insisted upon keeping 
in memory of her impromptu visit. A requiem mass 
was celebrated at the death of the Empress, for the re- 
pose of her soul, in the college chapel, and much emo- 
tion was shown by those present, vfho still recalled the 
happy memories of her stay in Ireland. 

In 1881 Elizabeth rented Combermere Abbey, in 
Cheshire, for part of the hunting season, and had a 
splendid time while there. She was very fond of Eng- 
land, Ireland, and Scotland, and could not bear to have 
the British Isles disparaged in her presence. One day 
somebody spoke before her of " Foggy England," and 
she promptly rejoined : 

109 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" You have a perfectly false idea of the place. Parts 
of it are simply incomparable, and as to the Isle of 
Wight, it is a little paradise on earth. Why, dear me, I 
saw fuchsias and heliotropes there as big as trees, and 
covered with the sweetest blossoms one can imagine. 
The myrtles, too, and the pomegranates and oleanders, 
would make one believe that one was in Greece, while 
those great green, velvety lawns that sweep right down 
to the sea could be found nowhere but in English ter- 
ritory." 

One of the many memorials of Empress Elizabeth 
which will remain in Austria, and one of the most 
picturesque and romantic, is certainly the chapel and 
shrine of St. Maria-Zell, in the Styrian Alps. It is the 
bourne of countless pilgrimages. I mention it here be- 
cause it is intimately related with the Empress's pas- 
sionate love for horses, and especially with one accident 
which she encountered while in the saddle. It owes its 
origin to the efforts of the youngest daughter of Em- 
press Elizabeth — namely. Archduchess Yalerie — who, 
when but twelve years of age, devoted all the money 
that she could either save or beg from her relatives to 
the erection of this chapel, which she dedicated to St. 
Maria-Zell and to St. George as a thank-offering for the 
marvellous escape of her mother from death. 

One day, while the Empress was riding in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the spot where the shrine now 
stands, she had occasion to cross a bridge rudely made of 
trunks of fir-trees, which spanned a deep and turbulent 
torrent. Somehow or another her high-spirited horse 
caught one of its hind feet between the rugged planks, 
and immediately commenced to rear in its frantic en- 
deavors to free itself. It was only with the greatest 
difficulty that the Empress, perfect horsewoman though 

no 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

she was, managed to retain her seat, and to avoid being 
hurled into the torrent seething among the rocks far 
below. At length one of the grooms who was follow- 
ing her succeeded in quieting the terrified animal suf- 
ficiently to enable her to dismount, and after having 
assisted in extricating the horse's leg from between the 
planks, which had severely bruised it, she pursued her 
way on foot. The Empress attributed her preservation 
to the special intervention on her behalf of the Blessed 
Yirgin of Zell, and to that of St. George, who is the 
patron-saint of all horsemen and horsewomen. 

On learning of her mother's danger, Archduchess 
Yalerie was so impressed by the account that she im- 
mediately planned the erection of the beautiful chapel 
which now covers the shrine of St. Maria-of-Zell. Over 
the entrance is a marble block bearing the following in- 
scription composed by the little Archduchess : 

" Holy Mother and Blessed St. George, patron of cavaliers, who 

can preserve us from all danger, and by whom my mother has been 

so often protected when no human help could avail her, I pray to you 

both with confidence that you will not disdain my humble petition, 

and that you will always be the saviours of the precious life which 

gave life to me. 

" Marie -Valerie. In remembrance." 

The chapel, or church, in question is built in Gothic 
style on some shelving rocks, in the midst of a dense 
pine-wood which partly covers the mountain-side. All 
around are precipices, the borders and bases of which 
are black with fir-trees, and a great mountain capped 
with snow towers above the edifice, its sides bristling 
with jagged rocks, chasms, and huge bowlders. 

The treasury of the chapel is filled with magnificent 
ofi'erings presented by the ladies belonging to the Aus- 
trian imperial family, and to the nobility. In many 

111 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

cases they are emblazoned with their monograms and 
armorial bearings. The Countess de Chambord, wife of 
the French Legitimist Pretender, presented a short time 
before her death three superb lamps of solid gold for the 
sanctuary, and also a huge diamond cross which had 
belonged to Queen Marie- Antoinette. The altar-cover- 
ing is of almost priceless point de Yenise, and is the 
gift of Empress EHzabeth herself. 

In the midst of all these offerings of the rich and the 
great is preserved the tribute of a poor peasant girl, 
whose history is a touching one. She was of most 
humble origin, and spent her days in tending her cattle 
on the grassy slopes around her father's alpine hut. Gay 
and thoughtless as a bird, she led a happ3% careless life 
in her mountains, and sang from morn till night. 

One day, however, despair filled her heart. Her be- 
trothed, a handsome, brawny mountaineer, lay at the 
point of death from the effects of an injury received 
while out hunting chamois. Ready to sacrifice almost 
anything for the sake of his recovery, she cut off her 
superb golden hair and offered it as a votive -gift to 
Our Lady of Zell. The young man recovered, but, sad 
to relate, he was so dismayed and even disgusted at 
the aspect presented by his betrothed shorn of her 
magnificent hair, which had been one of the principal 
features of her beauty, that he requited her devotion 
with coldness, scorn, and infidelity. Broken-hearted, 
the poor girl retired to a cloister, but to this day her 
lovely golden tresses, tied with the faded blue ribbon, 
are preserved in the treasury of St. Maria-Zell, side by 
side with the diamond cross of the far more unfort- 
unate consort of King Louis XYI. of France. 

Maria-Zell is situated, as I have said, right in the heart 
of the Styrian Alps, far away from the beaten track 

113 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

of foreign tourists, who rarely find their way thither. 
Every year, however, from ten to twelve thousand 
Austrians, consisting of peasants, bourgeois, nobles, and 
members of the imperial family, visit the shrine for the 
purpose of entreating the intercession of the Blessed 
Yirgin of Zell and of St. George. The pilgrims gener- 
all}'' arrive in large bands. They sing as they march, 
and the melody of these hundreds of harmonious voices 
ringing out in the fresh, clear alpine air is indescribably 
solemn and grand. Austrians, even to the lowest class, 
all possess a remarkable sense of music and a deep love 
for it. J^ature itself in the Austrian Alps is full of 
melody; the echoes of the rushing torrents, the song- 
birds warbling in the woods, the murmuring of the 
wind through the tall reeds which encircle the moun- 
tain lakes, all unite in a concert of the most entrancing 
character, and it is not surprising that the inhabitants 
of these poetical regions should be influenced thereby. 

The costumes, too, of the pilgrims are superb, and 
nowhere else can such a variety and picturesqueness 
of garb be seen as in the processions of worshippers 
on their way to Maria-Zell. The Styrian women wear 
short skirts of heavy silk brocaded in bright colors, 
and caps adorned with golden filigree, which are so 
valuable that they are handed down by the mother to 
the daughter from generation to generation. The 
girls from the.Salzkammergut, in their dark petticoats 
and lovf-cut bodices, fastened with antique silver buttons, 
their snow-white muslin kerchiefs and their coquettish 
little hats, from beneath which escape their long braids, 
are as pretty as pictures. They wear broad necklaces 
composed of many tiny gold chains, with here and there 
great square clasps of gold filigree studded with garnets, 
turquoises, and topazes. 

H 113 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Then there are the Hungarian women, who impart 
a semi-Oriental aspect to the scene ; for, like the Sla- 
vonians and the Croatians, they wear robes of white 
linen thickly embroidered with many-hued silks, and 
fastened around the waist with orange, blue, and crim- 
son ribbons, while the scarlet silk handkerchiefs so 
deftly wound round their dusky tresses remind one in- 
voluntarily of the Turkish fez, and the ponderous rows 
of huge coral and amber beads encircling their necks 
recall the ornaments so dear to harem women. 

The statue of the Holy Virgin of Maria-Zell is literally 
covered with priceless jewels, which have been offered 
ex 'voto by wealthy pilgrims. On her head glitters a 
diadem of gigantic rubies and diamonds, ropes upon 
ropes of softly gleaming pearls encircle her neck and 
her waist, rings set with sparkling gems adorn her 
fingers and even her toes, while her cloth-of-silver robe 
is loaded with streams of sapphires, clusters of emeralds, 
and rivieres of diamonds. Indeed, the statue bears strik- 
ing evidence of the fact that there are no more popular 
saints in Austria than St. George and Our Lady of Ma- 
ria-Zell. 

Another very serious accident occurred to the Empress 
during a summer which she spent in I^ormandy, near 
the Petites-Dalles, where she had rented Monsieur Per- 
quer's charming little chateau of Sassetot. She used to 
take long rides along the picturesque shore, and some- 
times even into neighboring Brittany, where I was at 
the time spending the summer, and where we used to 
undertake long excursions together. One day, in riding 
\J home to Sassetot, Elizabeth attempted to jump one of 
those treacherous walls made of loose pieces of rock, 
which surround the fields of the Breton and Normandy 
peasants. The top stones gave way under the horse's 

114 




THE EMPEESS AT THE A.GE OF FORTY-EIGHT — IN COURT DRESS 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

feet, for the animal had jumped short, and the Em- 
press was precipitated to the ground with extreme vio- 
lence. She was riding alone on that day, and remained 
hdng there, in a dead faint, until some laborers re- 
turning from their work found her, and recognizing in 
her the benefactress who had so often come to their as- 
sistance in moments of need, they carried her between 
them, with the utmost gentleness, to her home. The 
Emperor was immediately advised by telegraph of the 
accident, and hastenedj:q his jwife's bedside as fast as 
steam could take him. Of course he preserved the 
strictest incognito, and nobody, excepting the immediate 
entourage and Marechal MacMahon, who was then Pres- 
ident of the French Republic, knew of his having visited 
France. Fortunately the Empress's condition soon 
ceased to give reason for alarm, and he was enabled to 
return speedily to Yienna without his presence having 
been betrayed to any one. 

To the peculiarly poetically inclined and ideal-loving 
Empress, Brittany was sure to become very dear, for it is 
jpar excellence a land of old legends, of primitive habits, a 
land which is still, with but few alterations, just what it 
used to be in the time of the Feudality. The small, 
quaint old Breton towns are exactly to-day what they 
were six hundred years ago, with the exception of a few 
ill-burning lamps, serving only to emphasize the dark- 
ness of the streets at night, and some funny- looking 
low-ceiled shops containing the queerest possible assem- 
blage of superb antiquities and hideous modern articles 
de Paris, They are still surrounded by thick bastioned 
and cranellated walls, and by moats where wild ducks 
swim about on the lentil-covered muddy water, and are 
entered by drawbridges just as when, at the end of the 
fourteenth century, Duguesclin passed through them at 

115 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the head of his victorious armies. The streets are nar- 
row and ill-paved, and the sidewalks, narrower still, are 
completely moss-grown, and look like borders of green 
velvet set before the high facades of the elaborately 
carved granite houses. 

Summer and winter Brittany is a world of flowers, 
for the climate is so mild that there are wild stocks 
blooming in the crevices of the old walls, and on the 
wide window-sills of almost every house, pots of basilica, 
geraniums, and fuchsias, which even in midwinter make 
lovely blotches of color, and are like the smiles of these 
aged buildings. During the summer the sky, although 
a little hazy, as it invariably is on the old Armorican 
coast, is as blue as an angel's gaze — so, at least, the 
ancient Breton ballad terms it. At sundown softly 
tinted clouds, like the flying petals of a gigantic rose, 
float above the sea. The fields are all abloom with 
almond-scented white sarrazin, crimson clover, and yel- 
low colza, while on the heath the furze and broom 
burst into countless buds, and form a sea of fragrant 
gold as far as the eye can reach, sheltering under their 
shaggy branches a perfect carpet of pink heather. 

The Empress confided to me her desire to spend some 
days in the wildest portion of the Morbihan, not far 
from Cape Finisterre. She had heard of the place as 
being especially loneh^, and knowing that there was on 
the rugged cliffs a half -ruined old castle which belonged 
to one of my relatives, she urged me to arrange this little 
fugue, which would be shared by none besides ourselves, 
and four of her old servants and of mine. 

A few days after she had made this proposal the in- 
habitants of the hamlet of K were surprised out of 

their usual tranquillity by seeing a travelling carriage 
stop before the crumbling portals of the chateau de 

116 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 
— , which had not been inhabited for many a long 



year. This chateau is situated in one of the grandest 
and most savage regions of Brittany, far from any 
railroad, surrounded by barren landes, and possessed of 
nothing which could attract any ordinary globe-trotter. 
To be truthful, X is not the place to inspire cheer- 
ful thoughts. Its loneliness, its storms, its poverty, are 
not of a nature to make one feel particularly jolly, but 
it is there, perhaps, that one can best judge this curious 
and mystical country. The castle — or rather what re- 
mains of it — faces the greenish, dangerous-looking sea, 
and its ivy and moss-grown towers are backed by wind- 
tortured pines and cork -oaks. Farther away, on the 
table -land, there are delightfully green nooks, great 
woods — almost forests — where a wealth of delicate 
ferns and exquisite wild flowers conceal themselves in 

the deep, fragrant shadow, but X itself is very 

grim and bleak, and strangely out of keeping with the 
effeminate and luxury-loving period in which we live. 

"When we arrived there it was noon-day, there was 
no sun,, and a heavy wrack of copper-colored clouds was 
sweeping up from the north. The sea was high and 
moaning loudly as it surged around the gaunt rocks in 
its utter abandonment, the partially ruined castle had a 
desolate aspect, and a fear seized me that Elizabeth 
would speedily regret her desire to become more inti- 
mately acquainted with this strange part of the world. 
I was soon reassured, however, by seeing her making 
the best of everything, laughing and talking away as if 
she were about to enter a perfect Eldorado. As we 
walked, up the broken stone steps and passed into the 
grand and solitary chambers — gloomy and cheerless, 
with the wind beating at the big iron-barred casements 
through which the gray light from without was Qasting 

117 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

a dull gleam on the furniture, which was just as Breton 
as Breton could be — I watched her slender, almost girlish 
figure with astonishment and delight. 

Any other petted woman of the world would have 
recoiled before such a picture of comfortlessness. Not 
so, however, the Empress, who walked to one of the 
high windows and looked out on the rock -strewn strip 
of sand that parted the castle from the angry-looking 
sea, shrouded in gray fogs, the waves rolling heavily 
with a deep, desolate roar upon the narrow beach be- 
tween two encircling lines of jagged cliffs. 

V " This is splendid," said she, turning to me with eyes 
beaming like twin stars ; " what a dear, queer old place, 
and how very romantic ! I am expecting every minute 
to see a ' Farfadet ' or a ' Kourigan ' — that is what you 
call your familiar spirits here, don't you ? — come dancing 
towards me." 

" How good you are !" I exclaimed. " How on earth 
do 3^ou manage to keep up your spirits in this way, to 
always see the bright side of things? I am sure that 

V although I am a daughter of this rugged soil, I feel just 
about as Crusoe did when he was cast upon his desert 
island." 

We looked at each other for a minute and then sud- 
denl}^ burst into uncontrollable laughter. Attracted 
by these extraordinary peals of merriment, the ser- 
vants, who very justly thought that probably X 

was hardly the place for elaborate court etiquette, came 
running in, and could hardly refrain from beginning to 
laugh too. 

" Good heavens !" said the Empress, as soon as she 
could manage to recover her breath, '^ what in the name 

V of wonder are we all lauo^hino^ about ?" 

This remark did not tend to diminish our hilarity, so 

118 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

that the first moments of our visit, which I had begun to 
dread for EHzabeth, began in the most cheerful fashion 
possible. 

Amusements, in the general acceptance of the term, 
there were of course none, for there was not much to 
see excepting a few peasant-women wearing the prim 
national costume and white cap of Brittany, as they 
sat knitting or mending nets on their door-steps in the 
little hamlet below the northern cliff. Out on the 
landes lean cows and brown sheep were driven by bare- 
footed urchins through the short, salted grass, while far 
away at sea the sardine fishing- boats with their rough, 
red sails tacked to and fro wellnigh at all hours of the 
night and day. 

We rode and drove and walked a good deal, and also 
went out upon the sea to witness the exploits of the 
sardine catchers. The fishing and preserving of these 
dainty little silvery morsels is one of Brittany's great- 
est and most interesting industries. For this purpose 
we hired one of the ordinary strong, stanch fishermen's 
boats. 

There was one nook in the old castle of which we both 
became very fond. It was perhaps the best preserved 
portion of the great pile of buildings, and was filled 
with memories of a glorious past — a past when faith 
was of more importance to the honest-hearted, simple- 
minded inhabitants than fame, and when they used to 
lavish the best of all they possessed upon the altars con- 
secrated by their religion. It was the private chapel of 
the chateau. Every day we brought back from our 
rambles quantities of fiowers with which to adorn the 
little sacred edifice. 

A few nights after our arrival something occurred 
there which I v/ill never forget. We had dined late, 

119 



THE MAETYEDOM OF AN EMPEESS 

and very simply, off some thoroughly Breton dishes, 
and we were standing before a bright fire of faggots, 
kindled for us in the apartment — which, although much 
deteriorated, was the most comfortable of all the partly 
dismantled suite, and served us as a kind of sitting-room 
}/ — when suddenly the Empress linked her arm into mine, 
and led me through the long gallery of the northern 
wing to the little low postern-door which opened into 
the chapel. 

The small sanctuary was dark, excepting where an 
eternally burning lamp shone in front of the altar, and 
where some stray moonbeams pierced the stained win- 
dows of the right aisle and threw patches of dim color 
upon the worn mosaic floor. "We gazed about us, 
\ glancing reverently at the carved mailed figure of an 
ancestor of mine who had died fighting beside Dugues- 
clin in 1364:, and whose tall form w^e could just discern 
as he lay at rest, with his gauntleted hands clasped on 
the handle of a terrible-looking sword. 

Kneeling down the Empress began to pray, the Latin 
words echoing strangely under the empty, sonorous 
stone vaults above. The smell of some white roses 
which we had placed that day at the foot of a marvel- 
lously beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin floated 
towards us, and a little shudder of awe ran between my 
V shoulders. I felt my hand being grasped by the Em- 
press, and as she held it in hers she whispered : 

^' These have been happy days. In remembrance of 
them you must wear this ring, which has never left me 
for many and many a year. It will also remind you, 
if ever we are separated, for good and all, that you 
have been yqyj dear to me, and that I have valued your 
sympathy and friendship, as well as your devotion, more 
than I can express." 

120 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Hot tears rose to my eyes, and with the hand upon 
which she had just slipped the sparkling, scintillating, 
square-shaped diamond — which I have ever worn since 
that night — I raised her own slender fingers to my lips 
and kissed them tenderly and reverently. 

When we went back that night to our rooms, Eliza- 
beth stood for a moment musingly before the high stone 
mantel-piece of her sleeping-apartment, whereon were 
carved the two following lines : 

" Un chevalier, n'en doutez pas, 
Doit ferir haut et parler bas." 

" Those were times," she said, " when it was worth 
while to live. The days of chivalry have always had a 
singular charm for me ; all seems so tame and tasteless 
in this nineteenth century of ours. But here at least, 
within these thick, gray walls, one can imagine what the 
existence of the heroes of old could be, and that is why 

I have fallen in love with X . Listen now to the 

sound of the wind roaring outside, and tell me if, 
with a little imagination, we cannot believe that we 
have been suddenly transported back five or six centu- 
ries?" 

I turned towards the window, and certainly the wild 
spectacle of the boisterous, stormy night, seen from the 
high turret-chamber, lent itself to any possible imagin- 
ings. The moon was ascending rapidly above the hori- 
zon line amid a heaped-up mass of inky clouds, and the 
wind was rising with an alarming shriek and churning 
the waters into froth. Even while we were both watch- 
ing, the waves began to leap in menacing fashion. They 
rolled in like high water walls, crashing against the rocks 
on which the chateau stood as if they were about to en- 
gulf it, and when they retreated, with a deafening roar, 

121 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

they scooped out deep caverns in the pebbly shore with 
a noise Hke that of thunder. 

" Dear Lord, there will be mischief at sea to-night," 
said the Empress, sadly. 

" Ah 3^es !" I replied ; " this means disaster to any 
ship running along the coast, and I dare say we will get 
but little sleep to-night with all heaven and earth's artil- 
lery thus unchained against our rock fastness !" 

" Never mind, you selfish child," quoth Elizabeth, " it 
is the poor sailors who are to be pitied, and not we who 
are cosily established here." 

I glanced with a slight shrug of my shoulders at the 
bare stones of the walls, and gave a little cough of deri- 
sion for our " cosiness." 

A wild night ; a night that would play with men's 
lives as with pieces of broken match-wood. The wind 
rose louder and louder in sudden blasts, swift and fierce, 
sweeping over the phosphorescence of the sea, which 
shone hungrily and cruelly, eternal power speaking 
loudly in the rushing of that awful storm. 

Towards four o'clock in the morning, during one of 
those uncanny lulls of the tempest, which seems to sink 
in order to rise again in deadlier wrath, there echoed 
from the infuriated ocean the piteous signal of some 
perishing vessel. Before it had been repeated the Em- 
press was at my bedside, looking like an apparition in her 
long white night-robe, which was, however, no whiter 
than her tremulous face. 

" Come and look !" she exclaimed ; " there is a ship in 
distress there bej^ond. O God ! what can we do ?" 

The day was breaking, and as we reached the win- 
dow we could discern, by the lurid, dismal light of the 
storm-tossed morning sky, a large fishing-boat, with her 
sails rent away and her masts broken, careening be- 

123 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

tween the monstrous waves, one moment lifted on a foam- 
ing crest, the next disappearing into the trough of the 
sea, like a wounded bird with broken wings, driven at 
the mercy of the tempest — this fellow-reaper of death 
which spares neither youth nor age, and hears neither 
mother's prayers nor childhood's cry ! 

For a moment we gazed vacantly, stupidly, helplessly 
at this distressing picture, then in common accord we 
wrapped about us what garments we first could lay our 
hands upon, rushed down the long corridors, the wide 
staircase, and after struggling with the outer door, 
which wellnigh resisted all our efforts, we found our- 
selves in the open. 

Far from everywhere and everything, from coast- 
guard men and life-saving station, what could be done to 
help those unfortunate fellow-creatures in their dire peril? 
Through the driving spume and falling spray we vague- 
ly saw the blurred forms of some fisher-folk from the 
hamlet, running along the narrow strip of sand towards 
us, but of what assistance could even they be in such a 
stress ? Right between us and the drifting, rudderless 
vessel the jagged teeth of a line of reefs shone black 
and threatening, parting the waves asunder into yawn- 
ing gulfs. The pitiless wind was tearing at our clothes 
and flinging cur hair across our eyes, and it was almost 
impossible for us to keep our footing; yet somehow or 
other we managed to struggle down the rugged path 
hewn in the cliff, step by step, clutching to the pro- 
jections of the live rock to prevent ourselves from being 
precipitated headlong upon the surf -splashed shingle 
below. 

Where we were going or what we intended to do did 
not cross our troubled minds ; we were rushing to the 
rescue, although rescue was impossible to achieve ! At 

123 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

last we reached the bottom of the sloping wall of stone, 
and clinging to each other we stopped, breathless and 
drenched, buffeted by that fearful, howling wind, our 
eyes fixed upon the doomed boat ; and as we looked the 
end came ! One huge wave dashed over her, and flung 
her with a heart-rending clamor of crushing, splitting, 
wailing horror against the shining, blackened shoals. 
We saw some dark forms washed from the wreck into 
the yawning abyss of the boiling seas, a few human 
forms that would soon be cast up against the bowlder- 
strewn shore, mangled, bleeding, and lifeless. 

In the green, whirling waters the drowning fishermen 
struggled among the flotsam and jetsam of the shattered 
boat. "With a sorrowful cry the Empress slipped from 
my hold and rushed towards the retreating breakers that 
were going back in search of their prey. Instinctively 
I bounded after her, and caught her firmly around the 
waist. Full of pity as my heart was for the unfortunate 
beings dying in the voracious billows, yet I was not 
going to let her fly into clanger while under the spell of 
one of these unhesitating impulses of self-forgetfulness, 
of which I knew her to be so fully capable. Her face 
was deadly pale, her eyes shone with excitement, and 
she put out all her strength to free herself from me. She 
\/ was a skilled and daring swimmer, and although she 
must have known that none could swim those seas and 
live, I saw that she was going to attempt it. I, too, put 
out my strength, and we struggled for a brief minute, 
until what between the force of the wind and the shift- 
ing sands we stood upon, we fell to our knees just as the 
outer edge of a colossal volume of water came thunder- 
ing towards us, and all but carried us both into the mur- 
derous waste of the Atlantic. 

When we rose the shelving, broken hull of the bark 

124 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

had disappeared, and right at our feet the bodies of a 
boy and a man had been washed up by the big wave 
and left there dead, as we at first supposed. Our ser- 
vants, awakened at last by the deafening roar of the 
hurricane, had hurried towards us by the longer and 
safer path which started from behind the castle, and 
they bore the two sailors away. The young lad was 
clinging with his stiffened arms to a plank whereon 
was inscribed in white lettering, Mo/rie-Stella, the name 
of the wrecked vessel. 

Our efforts at resuscitation were successful, and we 
were very happy when, after two hours of continuous 
toil, we found that we had brought back life to the two 
poor creatures who, it appears from what they told us 
later, were the captain and owner of the boat, and his 
son, who was acting as mousse, or ship's boy. Before 

we left the castle of X the Empress had placed in 

the hands of the amazed and overjoyed patron a suffi- 
cient sum of money to purchase a new fishing-smack, 
thus saving him from utter and hopeless ruin. 

Elizabeth's passionate love for the sea was not dulled 
by the awful spectacle she had witnessed on that event- 
ful autumn morning, but it was veiled with sadness for- 
ever after. Her fearless nature never dreaded this great 
destroyer, and she used often to say : 

"The waves seem to draw me towards them, as if 
they knew how I love them!" She never forgot the 
monstrous Atlantic rollers which dashed themselves 
against the rugged coasts of Brittany, and they created 
such an impression upon her that she often, even after 
years had elapsed, alluded to them. 

Long before all this took place, when returning on 
board her yacht from the island of Madeira, she had 
encountered just such another terrible storm. Her 

135 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

yacht was tossed like a nutshell upon the mountain- 
ous waves, but far from being terrified by this, the Em- 
press insisted, in spite of the captain's remonstrances and 
fears, on being tied with a rope to the mast, in order 
that she might watch the fury of the sea, and in the 
midst of the tumult she laughingly exclaimed : 

" How many more times must I declare my principles 
and ideas about the length of life which is allotted to 
each of us ? We live just as long as God permits, and if 
I have been intrusted with a mission here below, Provi- 
dence will protect me from ever\^ danger !" 

During her short stay in Brittany the Empress liter- 
ally showered kindnesses upon the families of many poor 
fishermen, whose thatch - roofed huts clustered so close 
to the cliffs that they seemed but larger birds' -nests 
clinging to the rocks for protection from the wind and 
weather; and although they did not know who their 
benefactress was, they soon found a befitting name for 
her, and called her the " Queen of Mercy." 

While staying in England at the sea-side resort of 
Cromer, in Juh^, 1S87, she gave one of these proofs of 
delicacy of heart which are not easily forgotten among 
the humbler classes. She was walking on a stormy 
morning along the shore, when she suddenly caught 
sight of a group of sailors who were carrying the 
corpse of a drowned man. She immediatel}'" approach- 
ed and inquired about this disaster, and Avas told that 
the victim was a poor employe of the railroad, called 
Walter Monies, who had accidentally met with his 
death in the tossing waters. Hearing that the man 
was married and had several children, without a min- 
ute's delay she set off for his humble dwelling, for she 
said it was necessary that somebody should warn the 
newly made widow of the terrible misfortune which had 

126 




EMPEROR FRAKZ-JOSEPH IN STATE ROBES AS KING OP HUNGARY 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

befallen her before the sailors brought home their ghastly 
burden. The kindness with which she broke the awful 
news to the poor woman was a marvel of delicate ten- 
derness, and she remained with her until the body of the 
drowned man had been carried into the little cottage; 
then turning to the bereaved wife she said, softly: " Pray 
for the soul of your husband ; I shall help you, in so far 
as the children are concerned, as much as I can." And 
then she rapidly walked away. An hour later one of her 
Majesty's servants brought to the widow a pocket-book 
containing six hundred pounds sterling, which there is 
considered a very large sum indeed. 

All these little traits which I now relate w^ere not 
known among the public, for the Empress had^an abso- 
lute dread oJ any publicity of that kind, which gener- 
ally led to more misinterpretations of her actions. 

While I was at Vienna it was learned one morning 
that one of the Empress's maids had died during the 
night, and very severe comments were made about the 
fact that the Empress had been seen riding in the Prater 
on the very same afternoon. It was not told, however, 
that the Kaiserin had spent the whole of the previous 
night, as well as several others which had preceded it, 
at the dying woman's bedside, nursing her with her own 
hands up to the moment when she breathed her last, and 
that it was only when death had stilled her sufferings 
that Elizabeth, who was in sore need of some fresh air 
and of some change of scene, had gone in search of both 
in the less frequented parts of the Prater. 

She dried the tears of countless wretches, and brought 
comfort and consolation with her to many and many 
a stricken home. During the typhus epidemic which 
raged in the Hernalser-Madchen-Institute she insisted 
upon visiting the stricken girls, and upon personally 

127 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

encouraging and consoling them, quite regardless of the 
danger which she ran ; and when cholera and small-pox 
made their appearance at Budapesth, she accompanied 
the Emperor, who was obliged to go there for the open- 
ing of the delegations, saying that the moment of dan- 
ger was just the moment when she should be by the side 
of her husband. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Doctor Cheistomanos, who was for three years Greek 
reader to the Empress, but whose connection with the 
Court terminated in 1893, wrote soon after her death 
the following description of her — a description so pretty 
and so true that it deserves to be translated word for 
word in these pages : 

" When I was presented for the first time to Empress 
Elizabeth, it was in the summer of 1890, at Castle Lainz. 
I was requested to wait for her in the gardens, which 
were a mass of wonderful blossoms and flowering trees. 
I had never seen the Empress, and knew her only by 
her photographs and portraits, and I was, I must con- 
fess, filled with emotion at the idea that a long-wished- 
for privilege was about to become mine. I sat on a 
bench under a great tulip-tree, my heart beating with 
nervousness, awaiting her. Suddenly, without a sound 
having heralded her approach, she stood before me — a 
slender, black-clad apparition. She held in one hand a 
white umbrella and in the other a large black fan, and 
a charming smile of welcome played upon her features. 
In spite of the fact that her pictures resembled her only 
as a paste-diamond resembles the beautiful gem itself, I 
knew in a flash that it was indeed the Empress, and I 
felt that I was in the presence of the most exquisite and 
perfect creature who ever assumed the human form. I 
murmured a few sentences concerning the honor and 
I 129 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

happiness which were mine at meeting her — sentences 
so clumsy that I blush even now when remembering 
them; but with wonderful kindness she helped me 
over these first few moments of embarrassment and 
talked to me as if we had long been the best of friends, 
instead of being, she a great sovereign, and I a poor, 
humble, ordinary mortal. 

" I have had the good fortune to have been near the 
Empress during three years ; I have seen with her eyes 
the beauty of nature which she knew so well how to 
point out and explain to me. She has revealed to me a 
greater source of admiration for the waves and for the 
mountains, for the forests and for the large, undulating 
plains ; she has made me feel also the natural tie that 
binds the truly pure and lofty spirits of some few privi- 
leged beings, the tie of a common love for flowers and 
melody, and the glories of nature in general. Before 
I knew her I had never fully comprehended the grand 
infinity of the ocean, the deep azure of a summer sky, 
the wonderful rhythm of poetry, and the intense charm 
of music. It is enough happiness for one life to have 
been permitted to bask in the sunshine of her presence. 
Her subjects did not know her and never did her justice, 
for when one is as perfect as she was, one is sure to be 
misunderstood. Indeed a throne seems but a lowly foot- 
stool to bear such perfect, angelic womanhood ! She her- 
self, though, chiddU me when I thus expressed myself in 
her presence, and told me that she considered some parts 
of her duties as a sovereign ver}^ dear to her, nay, almost 
sacred. She proved that this was the case by bending 
all her efforts upon relieving misery and planning out 
new ways of helping the poor and the afflicted through- 
out the vast realms of her consort's empire. She was a 
queen of grace and of soulful consideration and kind- 

130 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ness. Pageant, pomp, and ceremony she did not like, 
and when she consented to deck herself with the in- 
signia of her lofty rank she was not made any more 
beautiful by this priceless display of jewels, for the 
precious stones themselves seemed to gather their mag- 
nificence and their dazzling loveliness from their being 
placed in contact with her. Of a truth, she belonged 
more to a sphere of angels than to that of the children 
of men, who live in cities and shun all that is true and 
pure in unblemished nature. When I used to see her 
dainty, delicate figure standing on some mountain peak 
she reminded me of a slender cypress swaying above a 
cemetery of spirits, and surrounded by the golden radi- 
ance of everlasting sunlight! How young she still 
seemed — she who was already a grandmother ! How 
clear and pure were the great eyes which revealed at 
times the touching simplicity of a child's soul — those 
eyes which in the valleys of this sad world of ours 
have shed so many bitter tears! Wherever she went 
she aroused enthusiasm; the peasants of the village of 
Gasturi, on Corfu, where she built her magnificent pal- 
ace dedicated to Achilles, used to kneel before her in 
the dust when she approached, calling aloud in their 
melodious language : ' O Queen of Beauty, may God 
bless thy every step !' All heads were uncovered when 
she passed, and the children, who watched for her com- 
ing, would run towards her with their hands full of 
blossoming orange and almond boughs. She adored 
everything that was beautiful, and one day when, in 
Madeira, a strikingly handsome peasant girl with am- 
ber skin, coral lips, and raven-black hair presented her 
with a cluster of crimson camellias, she gave her a piece 
of gold, saying to me afterwards, ^ That is a cheap price 
to pay for gazing on such perfection of form and face.' 

131 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Her enthusiasm for poetry and for music was plainly- 
shown by her profound admiration for great composers 
and great poets. She erected a monument to her favor- 
ite ' Ibardj' Heinrich Heine, in the gardens of Achilleon, 
and it is there that she used to go and gaze at the great 
brilliant stars of the semi-Oriental sky shining through 
a net- work of silvery olive-tree branches. 

" She feared not death ; once she said to me : ' "When 
the love of life has forsaken one, Death has already put 
his cold hand on one's shoulder.' Another time, when 
her yacht was fighting with the waves which break on 
the coast of Algeria, she remarked: 'Are 3^ou ready 
to die, or do you think, like so many, that death is a 
heroic action, difficult to accomplish well ? As far as I 
am concerned, it matters but little to me how and when 
I will really close my eyes forever, for there is in every 
earthly career a moment when one inwardly dies, and 
that need not be the time when actual death takes 
place. What is disagreeable is all this ceremony which 
surrounds our parting from our envelope of cla}^ — a 
ceremony which the ancient Romans abandoned to their 
slaves. It is not pleasant, of course, to watch decrep- 
itude in its advance upon us. As for myself, I await 
death at any moment, and you, who are a philosopher, 
ought to do the same.' 

"A little while later, however, when I approached 
the edge of a precipice towering above the waves, she 
laughingly alluded to our previous conversation, and 
said, 'It is not necessary for you to seek a poetical 
death, it is enough to inwardly die a fine death.' 

*' I could not but admire the extraordinary qualities 
of this sunny soul, which, after thus familiarizing itself 
with the greatest enemy of mankind, could live on, 
at peace, and just as if she were going through a task 

132 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

which she loved only because she considered it in the 
light of a duty !" 

The Greek teacher of the Empress, Mr. Rhoussopoulos, 
who also several times accompanied the Empress on her 
travels, although he does not express himself with the 
same poetical flow of language as does Doctor Christo- 
manos, yet gives some very interesting and touching 
details about her Majesty's attitude under a great many 
different circumstances. He lays great stress on the fact 
of Elizabeth's always doing her best to make those about 
her happy. That is very true and a very marked trait 
of this golden-hearted woman's character, and one which 
I cannot tire of mentioning. She could not endure to 
see any one suffer even the slightest pain or vexation. 
He relates that shortly after the marriage of Marie- Va- 
lerie, she had promised to give him a photograph of this 
her favorite daughter, in her wedding-dress. One morn- 
ing she brought to the professor ten of those pictures, 
which had been taken in various attitudes, and asked 
him to select one of them. 

" The choice is difficult, your Majesty, for they are all 
equally lovely," replied Rhoussopoulos. 

"Then you had better keep them all," she replied, 
smiling. 

In the spring of 1890 the Empress went to Wiesba- 
den, accompanied by her Greek teacher, and during her 
stay there used to keep the windows of her villa open 
day and night. This caused the professor to ask her 
whether she was as fond of European landscapes as 
of Oriental ones, and whether she liked to travel in 
Europe. 

" Yes," answered the Empress, " but I generally pre- 
fer to * look upon Europe in profile,' " meaning thereby 

133 



TEE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

that she liked to see the European coasts best from the 
deck of her yacht. 

She was extremely fond of Paris, and France generally, 
for there she could wander about without the fear of 
being perpetually annoyed by the indelicacy of the peo- 
ple, who in other countries crowded around her to dog 
her slightest step. There she also delighted in meeting 
her sisters, the Queen of ]^aples and the late Duchess 
d'Alengon. Once during a walk in the Bois de Boulogne 
she said to Professor Rhoussopoulos : 

" How I used to love my rides through these beautiful 
paths ! I would never have believed then that the time 
would come when I would walk along them while learn- 
ing Greek. Still there is always one charm for me in 
Paris which nothing can efface — namely, the memory of 
JSTapoleon I. What a great man he was, and what a pity 
that his insatiable ambition should have led him to seek 
an imperial throne." 

The political ideas of the Empress, declares the pro- 
fessor, were extremely broad. She said to him on one 
occasion : 

" Everybody seems to think that a Eepublican form of 
government is the best, and my teacher. Count Janos 
Majlath, has written much about this. Poor Count 
Majlath ! I can never think of him without the deepest 
sorrow, remembering the terrible death he sought, to- 
gether with his daughter, in this same lake of Starn- 
berg, where my cousin Louis was drowned. But to re- 
turn to what we were saying: I myself must say that, 
theoretically speaking, a republic is without a doubt the 
most reasonable form of government, but in Austria 
there exist so many different races and populations 
assembled within one frontier that the dynasty alone 
can form the link to hold them together. And so with 

134 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

us, monarchy, it seems to me, should always be the 
most practical plan to follow. By-the-bye," she added, 
"you seem surprised to hear me talk about such, things. 
What do you think about the book published in London 
at the end of the fifties, and which is called Blick auf 
den Anonytnen Ruckhlick V 

This was a book which had been strictly proscribed 
in Austria, and of which only a few copies had been 
smuggled into the country ; it is, therefore, easy to imag- 
ine the degree of the professor's amazement upon hear- 
ing the Empress mention it. 

" Do you possess that book ?" she continued. 

" It is forbidden in the entire monarchy," he replied. 

" That is not what I asked you ; my question is, ^ Do 
you possess that book V " 

The professor remained mute, and blushed with em- 
barrassment. The sovereign began to laugh, and having 
drawn from her pocket a small key, she unlocked a 
secret drawer of her desk, exclaiming : 

" Yoxx. probably imagine that I have never read any- 
thing of the kind, so now see here," and she handed to 
him half a dozen volumes and pamphlets, among which 
was The Fall and Disintegration of Austria^ which was 
published soon after the Austro-Prussian w^ar, and which 
created at the time a tremendous sensation, for the 
author declared therein that the Hapsburg Monarchy 
could not possibly last any longer, and wrote in a vio- 
lent and blood-thirsty fashion against the reigning house. 
It is easy to understand the stupefaction of Professor 
Khoussopoulos, especially when her Majesty quietly re- 
marked : 

" Do you know who was the author of this book V\ 

Of course the professor was aware that the name of 
this writer was Lang, a young man whose father was 

135 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the devoted servant of Emperor Franz- Joseph ; but this 
was all the more reason why he should refuse to reveal 
to Elizabeth what she apparently wanted to know. 

*' Oh, I see !" laughed the Empress. " You don't know 
the author, but, surely, you are well acquainted with 
his father ; and so I am glad to be able to tell you that 
the poor old man has never been and will never be made 
responsible for the perhaps a little too advanced ideas of 
his son." 

Moritz Jokai, in his beautifully written appreciation of 
the late Empress, which appeared in print a week after 
her death, says : ^ 

" She was the ideal woman, as wife and mother, as 
beauty and queen. Especially was she admirable as a 
patient sufferer, ^ mater dolorosa par excellence.^ . . . 

" The woman who suffers in patience is only second to 
the Divinity. Like her son, the Crown-prince Rudolph, 
she was a fatalist. She trusted to fate. Fear she never 
knew — neither fear of man nor of the elements. To 
what extent the Queen was the guardian angel of Hun- 
gary, history alone can show. She conversed in our 
language with a purity of accent and a choice of ex- 
pression that no one else could rival. . . . Many distin- 
guished Hungarians might with advantage have taken 
lessons from her. She was the patroness of Hungarian 
literature, and I have personally much cause to remem- 
ber her with passionate gratitude. In 1889 the Queen 
graciously accepted the dedication of one of my novels. 

" The court was at Ofen, and there I presented her 
with a copy of my work. She talked to me for a long 
time on the subject of our literature, displaying great 
penetration and a sound critical faculty of judgment. 
Just as I was going to take my leave she said : 

136 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

"^Wait a moment, and I will show you my little 
daughter.' She opened a side door and beckoned to a 
nurse who held the small offshoot of royalty on a lace 
pillow in her arms. 

"The baby was Marie -Yalerie. The Queen took her 
from the nurse and pressed the laughing child*s cheek 
against her own. That was the most beautiful reward 
of my life. And now it is all over — such infinite grace, 
love, and exalted feeling ! All shut away in a coffin, she 
rests under a burden of wreaths here below, but her 
soul is floating, untrammelled, in heaven. No longer 
does the dread shadow pursue her — the shadow which 
drove her from country to country. At last her great 
soul has met that other soul which, dreamino^ or wakino-, 
she never could forget. ... If our beloved Queen had 
drawn her last breath on a bed of sickness, we should 
have then covered her with flowers and tears, and 
blessed her resting-place, and she would have vanished 
from our midst. But the Queen who has died a martyr's 
death will never vanish; her spirit will hover near 
us forever. When storms from without threaten the 
Fatherland, and our nation is torn asunder by internal 
feuds, she will show us her bleeding wound, and the 
mouth of the wound will speak to us, saying: ^Love 
the Fatherland. Love the King.' Pray God we may !" 

The Hungarians are talking of erecting a statue of 
the Empress at Ofen, representing her on horseback. 
This would, indeed, be a splendid idea, for not only did 
she never appear to better advantage than when in the 
saddle, but also the Magyars of the Puszta saw her so 
very often riding among them that it is thus that they 
remember her best. I myself can conjure her up most 
easily in my dear remembrance of her as the graceful 

137 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

figure beside whom I rode so many and many a mile, 
our horses almost touching each other, our enraptured 
eyes scanning together the endless plains or the rich 
grass and woodland of Hungary. 

How well I recall her looks and actions when we 
rode out alone to witness a Tzigan wedding, late one 
evening, in a forest near Yemisar ! 

The scene which we witnessed that night was solemn 
and weird in the extreme. It was illuminated by a huge 
pile of flaming pine -logs, in front of which, with his 
back towards the fire, stood the Yajda, or chief Zin- 
garo, draped in a long crimson mantle, holding in his 
hand an ebony staff with a silver knob, as a symbol of 
his dignity and autocratic power. The authority of this 
personage over his tribe is supreme, even to life and 
death. It is he who performs the marriage, birth, and 
burial ceremonies, according to the true Zingaro rite, for 
although thousands of the Tzigans have nominally em- 
braced Christianity, yet they still remain at heart as 
devoted to the worship of fire as their ancestors who 
dwelt on the slopes of the Indian Himalayas. 

Hand in hand the young couple stood before the 
flames, under the drooping branches of the great dark 
trees, listening reverently to the solemn words of the 
Yajda. The bridegroom was only sixteen, and the 
bride little more than twelve — ages, however, corre- 
sponding, both as regards physical and mental devel- 
opment, to about twenty and sixteen in the case of 
Europeans. The handsome, stalwart boy, clad in a crim- 
son dolman and dark breeches, high, tasselled boots and 
small velvet cap with a heron's plume, towered head and 
shoulders over his tiny, dsivk-ejed Jlancee. She was an 
extremely pretty creature, this graceful girl, and her 
scarlet skirt and bodice, with the necklace of gold se- 

138 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

quins which glittered at her throat and in her dusky 
braids, set off her strange beauty wonderfully. As soon 
as the Yajda had concluded his address, an earthen 
vessel was dashed to pieces on the ground as a symbol 
that the past of both young people had come to an end, 
and that a new life was beginning for them, and the 
bridal couple were sprinkled with a mixture of salt and 
brandy for the purpose of putting to flight any evil 
spirits that might be lurking about them. Heavy sil- 
ver rings were then exchanged, and after the Yajda had 
placed his hands in token of blessing over their bowed 
heads, the youthful pair were regarded as duly married, 
and received the congratulations of their relatives and 
of the numerous members of their tribe. 

Shortly afterwards feasting and dancing began — the 
latter to the sound of that inthralling music which the 
Tzigans draw from their violins and cymbals. It is 
a music that stirs the listener to the utmost limits of 
terrestrial — nay, one might say almost heavenly enthu- 
siasm. Its exquisite melodies seem to penetrate the 
very marrow of one's bones, to send a thrill through the 
entire body, and to raise the soul far above earth. It is 
heard nowhere save in Hungary, Roumania, and the 
Balkans. The musicians let all their heart go out in 
the strains of their perfect instruments, and it seems as 
if their hearts would break were they to cease these 
floods of inthralling harmony. 

They play as a lark carols — naturally, passionately — 
bringing one through all the phases of love, of pain, 
of rapture, until every nerve tingles. Then, suddenly, 
with one deep, plaintive chord, as if the strings were 
rent asunder in a last sweet, lingering sigh, they are 
silent, exhausted by the plenitude of their own power. 

]N"othing can give an idea of the enthusiasm they 

139 



THE MAETYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

arouse. I have seen the great Liszt himself listen to 
them spellbound, with tears falling down his sunken, 
pallid cheeks. I have seen spoiled and hlase men of 
the world entranced by the matchless melodies of these 
artists of nature, and one night, in the Banat, when the 
stars were coming out one by one in the clear violet 

skies, I saw Prince Louis E and a party of his 

guests give the Tzigans, who had been playing for them, 
not only all the money they had about them, but their 
watches, chains, studs, rings, etc., the women taking the 
jewels from their fingers and the flowers from their 
bosoms to fling them at the feet of the dark -eyed 
musicians. The most remarkable thing about this is 
that the Zingari do not know a note of music. They 
are merely the interpreters of the nightingales, of 
nature's own sweetest harmonies. They play by tra- 
dition, because music is in their souls, and because 
they cannot help giving utterance to it. The Hun- 
garian bands, styling themselves Tzigans, and hiring 
themselves out to play in foreign cities, have nothing 
in common with the Zingari of the Piiszta. The for- 
mer are pleasing to hear, well taught and well drilled, 
but they are only mechanical nightingales who sing 
for money, very different from the free, fiery, and un- 
tutored artists of the great southern plains. 

The dancing of the Tzigans also in no way resem- 
bles the jerky motion which we are wont to consider 
the acme of terpsichorean art. It is poetical, graceful, 
and dignified, and at the same time coquettish and 
exquisite, especially where the women are concerned. 
In fact, these dances, as we saw them on many a night 
in those days, are a mixture of the wild Hungarian 
Czardas, the Hindoo Nautch, and the stately minuet of 
bygone days. The men in their tight -fitting attilas, 

140 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

with an embroidered dolman hanging from the left 
shoulder, clatter the long spurs attached to their boots, 
and the girls move with that swift grace inherent in 
their race, making up a beautiful picture as they wind 
their way in and out of the intricate mazes of this 
peculiar but charming dance. 

^ot long after we attended the Tzigan wedding I 
just described, we became the involuntary witnesses 
in the same forest glades of another Tzigan cere- 
mony, which may be regarded as a kind of epilogue 
to the wedding festivities, for it illustrates the sanctity 
with which the Zingari regard the marriage vows. 

One evening the Empress and myself rode to the 
Czikana, or camp, belonging to the great Yajda, Fe- 
renzi-Janos, but found it deserted. The faint sound 
of wailing voices coming from the pine -woods in the 
distance, however, attracted our attention, and guiding 
our horses cautiously over the tangled bracken and 
osmunda - bushes which covered the ground, we soon 
came in sight of a scene which I shall never forget. 

The moon was shining brightly, lighting up the spot 
with fairy-like splendor. A.11 around the pine -woods 
stretched the ruddy glow of gj^psy fires, flashing be- 
tween the dark boughs and throwing a crimson gleam 
on a space where the trees had been cut down. There, 
bound to a stake like a prisoner of the redskins, was a 
woman, her perfect figure clothed in nothing but her 
raven tresses. Her great black eyes had an agonized 
look in them, and blood was dropping from four inci- 
sions made with some sharp instrument in her shapely 
arms and limbs. Surrounding her was the entire tribe 
—men, women, and children — chanting a kind of sinis- 
ter invocation, while towering over the victim was the 
majestic form of the Yajda, still holding in his clenched 

141 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

hand the leather thong with which he had been chas- 
tising her mercilessly. With a cry of disma}'" we both 
sprang from our saddles, and scattering the crowd, 
rushed towards him. 

'' What do you mean, Janos Ferenzi?" cried her Maj- 
esty, clutching his arm. " What has this unfortunate 
woman done that you should treat her thus?" 

The noble face of the Yajda, which at first had ex- 
pressed nothing but astonishment at our unexpected ap- 
pearance, now assumed a look of dignity and of sadness 
which I, for one, had never seen there before. 

" There has been love, and of the love sin, and of the 
sin a curse would come upon my tribe were it not pun- 
ished," he said, solemnly. " This woman has betrayed 
the man to whom she was in honor bound. I, Ferenzi- 
Janos, must avenge the disgrace inflicted on one of my 
people. Her woe was wrought by her own hand, and 
she must eat the fruits of her crime." 

The words fell slowly and mournfully on the silence 
of the night, troubled only by the river waves beating, 
with a dull murmur, against the rocks fifty feet below, 
and by the soughing of the wind which had arisen. 
Ferenzi-Janos was indeed in his own eyes, and in those 
of his people, a judge and an avenger. In vain did we 
try to plead and argue in behalf of the woman. He re- 
mained immovable, quietly but firmly refusing to grant 
even an imperial request. 

" Nothing can help the culprit," he said. " For twenty- 
four hours must she remain at the stake, and then she 
will become a wanderer on the face of the earth. The 
incisions you see are the signs of her degradation, and 
no tribe will ever allow her to rest in its midst. Be- 
lieve me," he added, "we are only just. We warn our 
women of what awaits them should they sin. It is for 

142 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

them to keep themselves pure. Moreover, you have 
been our friends and you will not betray us, because in 
your heart you know that this punishment is well de- 
served." 

What could either of us argue against such reasoning? 
We exerted ourselves so much in her behalf, neverthe- 
less, that at last the miserable woman was unbound and 
sent out of the camp that night instead of being left at 
the stake until the following sundown. This was a 
great concession on the part of Ferenzi- Janos, and 
seemed to fill his people with astonishment. I need 
hardly add that through the Empress's care the wretch- 
ed woman found a home on one of the royal estates, 
where I have reason to believe she remains to the pres- 
ent day. The impression made upon us by this incident 
was a lasting one, and often did we talk together of the 
wild, weird scene of the forest of Yemisar. 

One thing which always struck me about my Tzigan 
friends is the nobility of their demeanor. They all 
seem to be born aristocrats, so dignified and impressive 
is their bearing under all circumstances. I think that I 
can describe them as stanch monarchists, for they are 
exceedingly loyal to their Yajdas, and to their Queen, 
wandering majesty though she is, living in canvas tents 
wherever her fancy may lead her. 

The Zingari whom one meets in cities are degen- 
erates, and cannot give any idea of what the free-born 
child of the Puszta is like. To know the latter well, 
it is necessary to visit their picturesque settlements 
on the plains, or in the dense pine forests which here 
and there break the monotony of the boundless grass- 
land of the country of their adoption. It is difiicult to 
win their confidence, or to secure a welcome to their 
camps, and many savants who in the interests of science 

143 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

have desired to study their mode of life have been dis- 
couraged from so doiug by the icy barrier of disdain 
and mistrust which this still half -savage people seem 
determined to place in their way. 

As far as I am personally concerned, I found no trouble 
in making friends with them, a fact due perhaps to a 
service which I had been able once to render to the 
tribe of Ferenzi-Janos under somewhat singular circum- 
stances. I am sure that I found them, especially after I 
had taken the pains to acquire some knowledge of the 
Romany language, firm and reliable friends, ready to 
stick to one through thick and thin in unswerving 
allegiance. They showed me complete trust, revealing 
to me many of their secrets with absolute sincerity 
and truthfulness. 

ISTo one who has seen so much of them as I have 
can do otherwise than indorse Grellmann's theory con- 
cerning the Hindoo origin of this remarkable people. 
The two languages are very similar ; for instance, in 
Hindustani the word snow is " hima," and the word 
bearer, " laya," while in Eomany the words are " him " 
and "loya." In both languages "himalaya" means 
''the bearer of snow." Many other proofs might be 
given as to the certainty of the fact that the Hima- 
layan slopes were the original home of all the gypsies 
previous to the year 1417, when they made their first 
appearance in Europe. The religion has remained al- 
most entirely that of fire-worshippers. The earth, which 
they call " phno," has, according to them, existed from 
all eternity, and is the origin of everything that is good, 
because a raging and undying fire burns in its bowels. 
Their god is named " Devel," and their devil " Beng." 
They fear both, and curse both freely when some mis- 
fortune reaches them. Their most solemn oath is to 

144 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

swear by the dead, an oath which it is the direst dis- 
honor to break. But in spite of this they do not believe 
in an after-life. They have no word for paradise and 
*' none for heaven, although they sometimes talk of a re- 
gion inhabited by devils, a *' beng-ipe " (demon's home). 
It is a great mistake to imagine that the Tzigans 
pride themselves on the possession of the powers of 
divination and even w^itchcraft with which they are 
popularly credited. On the contrary, they ridicule the 
belief. 

V Late one afternoon my imperial friend and I hap- 
pened to be riding home through a cikania^ where I 
often had been alone before. We stopped to talk to a 
beautiful young Zingaro, with whom I was acquainted. 
A wild, handsome girl she looked, with a scarlet hood 
thrown over her jetty hair, and her glittering eyes gaz- 
ing into the darkening heavens, where the crescent of 
the new moon was rising. 

" Tell me my fortune, Kevicta !" suddenly exclaimed 
her Majesty, holding out her open hand to her. The 
glow of the camp-fire was bright enough for her to read 
the lines of the delicate palm, which she took between 
her brown and shapely fingers. For a moment she re- 
mained silent, looking up with surprise into the lovely 
face above hers. 

" You want me to prophesy for you ? You want to 
hear what Eevicta, the daughter of the flames, can say 
about your future?" half chanted she, in that peculiarly 
monotonous recitative of the gypsy. "Ah ! in the past 
and in the present lie the seed to bear fruit in the 
future," continued the girl, speaking now in Czeschen. 
" Kevicta can say only that which she sees. She cannot 
lie to a friend of her tribe. True Romanies do not be- 

V lieve in fortune-telling. It is good enough for the non- 

K 145 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

gypsies to do so. To you I cannot tell what I do not 
know, even for gold." 

The words fell gently from her lips. She dropped 
the Empress's hand, and with a queenly inclination of 
her proud head she turned away, and walked softly 
towards her tent, moving noiselessly on the smooth 
greensward. 

As for myself, I never believed much in predictions of 
any kind, nor in visions either, and I smiled contentedly 
upon hearing Kevicta's assertion ; yet, strangely enough, 
I had once a vision, and about the Empress, too, which 
came back very vividly to me, and very painfully as 
well, after her assassination. 

The circumstance to which I am now alluding took 
place during the late autumn of the year when I spent a 

few days at the old chateau of X , on the Breton 

coast, with her Majesty. It was on a cold November 
afternoon. I was riding over the heath of Quiberon, in 
Brittany, where I had remained for some weeks after 
Elizabeth returned to Vienna. Far below me, at the 
foot of the cliffs, the waves were dashing against the 
rocks with a loud, grinding sound of rolling pebbles and 
shaking bowlders, and the wind was shrieking through 
the dried stalks of the furze and broom. The melan- 
choly of the scene brought vividly back to my mind tales 
I had often heard of the terrible carnage which took 
place on this very spot in 1795. It seemed to me as if 
I could even see the broad face of the moon throwing a 
livid light on the deserted battle-field of those days, and 
dead and dying piled in great heaps, which the furious 
waves of the rising tide approached in leaps and bounds. 
I almost fancied I heard the moaning of the wounded, 
abandoned to their wretched fate, and saw the " Whites" 
and the "Blues," as the Koyalists and Kevolutionists 

146 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

were respectively designated, lying side by side in their 
last moments of agony. So absorbed was I in this ret- 
rospective re very, that I suffered my hunter to adopt a 
snail-like pace, as he also gazed seaward where so many 
of his kind had found a watery grave in those long 
gone times. The scene Avas a desolate one indeed, well 
in keeping with my thoughts, and the incident which 
brought me back from the retrospective musings was 
strange enough to make me think that I was still dream- 
ing with wide-open eyes. 

Just as I was about to round the point which discloses 
the entire panorama of this tempest -tossed stretch of 
water, called La Mer Sauvage, I saw plainly before me, in 
spite of the rapidly gathering dusk, a white figure stand- 
ing on the very edge of the precipice, and seemingly 
swinging to and fro with a gentle, undulating motion, 
as if about to clear the bastion-like ramparts formed by 
the cliff. 

I checked my horse so violently that, unused to such 
rough treatment, the delicately organized thoroughbred 
reared straight up in the air, and it took me a few mo- 
ments to soothe his aggrieved feelings. When I had 
succeeded in doing so, I looked again towards the spot 
where the figure had stood flutteringly outlined against 
the evening sky, but it was no longer there. Giving 
my fretting horse his head, I galloped madly away, un- 
mindful of the grand panorama before me, of the sacred 
Druidical stones which I passed at lightning speed, al- 
though I usually loved to give a lingering look at those 
weird and terrible monuments of the times of the Gauls. 

It was late when I arrived home, just in time to dress 
and to hurry down to the dining-hall, where our nu- 
merous guests had already assembled. I had no time 
to think of the quaint apparition perceived during my 

147 



iV-*-" 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

homeward journey, and as dinner was followed by an 
impromptu dance, it was after midnight when I retired 
to my room. I was wellnigh tired out, and I dropped 
into a deep sleep as soon as my head touched the pil- 
low. It did not seem that a long time had elapsed 
when, suddenly, I awakened, with a start. 

The tiny enamelled clock at my bedside rang out 
thrice its soft, silvery stroke. While the sound was yet 
dying away I opened my eyes and looked about me 
with a feeling of oppression and anxiety. 

The large, high-ceiled room, lighted by the rosy glow 
of the night-lamp and by the fitful gleams of the fast- 
consuming logs on the hearth, looked as peaceful as 
usual. Not a fold of the heavy draperies on the walls 
had been disturbed ; the tall green fronds of the palms 
before the windows were unruffled by so much as a 
breath of air, and a stray moonbeam glided through a 
parting of the window - curtains and fell aslant the 
floor, like a sheaf of silver rays. 

Wearily my eyelids drooped, and I was about to doze 
off once more, when a second time I started as if a 
hand had touched me. The November night was very 
cold for Brittany, and the wind swept in icy gusts 
around the castle. Everybody was asleep, and when I 
at length lay down again there was not a sound in the 
whole big pile of buildings save the crackling of the logs 
on the broad hearth. 

Lulled by the low moaning of the sea at the foot 
of the cliffs far below my windows, I tried again to 
go to sleep; but 1 was kept from doing so by an in- 
comprehensible feeling of anguish. Cold perspiration 
stood on my brow, and I experienced great difficulty 
in breathing. Dazed and surprised, I looked around me, 
but the fire had now almost completely died out, and 

148 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the dim, rosy light from the smouldering embers was 
not strong enough to allow me to distinguish any- 
thing clearly. I was trying to reason myself into going 
to sleep again in spite of all, when a very slight rustle 
attracted my attention and made me shudder from head 
to foot. It was so slight that none but ears sharpened 
by fear could have perceived it, and yet there it was — 
a soft, silky, gliding, undulating motion of something 

V invisible gradually approaching m}^ bed. I lay there in- 
capable of moving, straining every nerve in my effort 
to realize what that sound could be, but the beating of 
my pulses was so loud that I could less and less distin- 
guish whence it came. Suddenly my heart died within 
me, for the curtains had parted, and from the sheaf of 
moonbeams, now broadened to a regular flood of scin- 

V" tillating light, the figure I had seen on the cliffs floated 
towards me. I am no coward, and I may assert that 
I am not fanciful either ; but yet I seemed to become 
paralyzed by some kind of magnetic power which I had 
never experienced before. Stir so much as a finger I 
could not ; all my vitality was concentrated in my eyes. 
Mechanically I heard the clock ticking monotonously ; 
I listened to every sob of the waves against the rocky 
beach below, and to the fast-rising wind as it shook the 
deep-embrasured casements, but all these sounds were 
dull in my ear, as if heard from a far-away grave where 
I was entombed alive. 

The figure reached my bedside and bent over me. I 
clenched my teeth convulsively to smother a cry of 
agony, for I could now distinguish every detail plainly, 
and I saw Elizabeth's features pale as death, her great 

\/ blue eyes dilated and bent upon me with a heart-rend- 
ing expression of sadness and of woe, and one slim, 
emaciated hand pointing to a little wound on her bare 

149 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

V breast, and from which two or three drops of blood had 
oozed upon the white folds of her robe. And then I 
swooned away, losing all consciousness of that awful 
picture. 

When I regained my senses I could see through the 
opening between the heavy tapestried window-hangings 
that the sun had risen. The room, with its luxurious 
furnishings, its numberless knickknacks and bibelots, 
was peaceful and undisturbed, but I could not shake off 
the horrible impression of what I persisted in telling 
myself was but a ghastly dream. I telegraphed to 

\ Elizabeth during the course of the morning, and she 
replied immediately that she was very well, expressing 
surprise at my, to her, quite meaningless and anxious 
inquiry. So I called myself a fool, and tried to dismiss 
the whole affair from my brain. 

Of course I never mentioned a word of it to the Em- 
press, and when I regained Austria we resumed as of 
yore our rides over hill and dale, talking often of Brit- 
tany, a subject, however, to which, much to her aston- 
ishment, I did not take very kindly, for it always re- 
called to me the vision seen during one of the most 
trying nights which I ever spent in my life. 



CHAPTER IX 

From our long forest rambles Elizabeth would often 
bring back, tied to the pommel of her saddle, all manner 
of queer objects — strangely gnarled branches, bright- 
hued berries, long waving reeds — which she afterwards 
disposed gracefully and with a quaint, original taste 
about her apartments. 

Yery characteristic of her was the originality which 
she showed in the arrangement of her private apart- 
ments. Whether she was staying at one of her own 
palaces or in a plain suite of rooms at a hotel, her first 
care was invariably to send for flowers, quantities of 
them, both potted and cut, and to dispose them herself 
in all available nooks and corners. Next came her 
books, well-thumbed volumes, handsomely but soberly 
bound, and written in the many dead and living lan- 
guages which she knew. A large square box contain- 
ing portraits and photographs of those she loved was 
always included in her luggage, and she took special 
delight in grouping these souvenirs of home about her. 

When she built and furnished the Yilla Achilleon she 
gave proof of what her artistic sense really was. 

This imperial abode has been so often described that 
it seems futile to do so again here, and yet no pen or 
even brush wielded by the cleverest of writers or of 
painters has ever given an adequate idea of the chast- 
ened magnificence and truly unique taste displayed 
throughout this creation of her imagination, executed 

151 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

in marbles and mosaics, precious woods and more pre- 
cious metals. 

Corfu was a fitting place of residence for the grieving 
Empress. She followed in her selection the example 
of Agrippina, widow of Germanicus, who, in the year 
20 A.D., cast into the depths of despair by the loss she 
had sustained, landed upon the shores of this enchanted 
island to seek the consolation usually brought by beau- 
tiful scenery, coupled with perfect rest and estrange- 
ment from all social noise and turmoil. 

The attention of the Empress had been directed to 
the classical spot where the villa now stands by the 
late Freiherr von Warsberg, the great authority on the 
landscape scenery of the Odyssey. Within the in- 
credibly short time of little more than one and a half 
years the modest villa Braila, on the Gasturi Hill, in 
the island of Corfu, long known for its enchanting 
position, was replaced, under the direction of the Ital- 
y' ian architect, Rafael Charito, by a palace conceived 
and carried out in the spirit of ancient Greece. The 
eastern slope of the hill facing towards the sea is cov- 
ered with olive plantations, while the opposite incline 
has been laid out as a beautiful park, on wide terraces. 
The west front rises two stories high, but the villa leans 
against the hill, so that the upper story at the opposite 
side is level with the first terrace. 

The principal entrance is on the south front, which, 
with its projecting porch, its loggias and balconies, pre- 
sents an exceedingly picturesque aspect. The vestibule 
is connected with a large, sumptuously decorated salon, 
upon the ceiling of which Paliotti has represented the 
four seasons. To the right is the chapel, carried out in 
pure Byzantine style; to the left the dining-room, Pom- 
peian to the minutest detail. A marble staircase with 

153 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

bronze balustrades leads to the second story, where the 
apartments of the Empress were situated. The central 
salon opens on the Centaur terrace, and has empire dec- 
orations, with frescos of Aurora on the ceiling, painted 
also by Paliotti. All the various apartments are filled 
with art treasures of Pompeian and ancient Greek origin 
which the Empress collected herself. 

The arrangements of Elizabeth's private suite of 
rooms reflected the individual taste of the august chat- 
elaine in all its well-known refinement. One of the 
most magnificent features of the building is the peri- 
style into which the Empress's rooms opened. It is 
supported by twelve marble columns, in front of which 
are placed marble statues brought from Rome, while 
the walls are painted by Paliotti and Pastiglione with 
scenes from ancient Greek mythology and romance as 
they were described by Homer, ^sop, and many other 
ancient poets and chroniclers. 

The building contains one hundred and twenty-eight 
rooms, and the stables have accommodations for fifty 
horses. 

From the windows of her Majesty's sleeping apart- 
ment and boudoir the view is admirable, reaching far 
away to where the mountains of Cyprus and Albania 
tower into the sky. All the rooms are furnished with 
that exquisite taste ever displayed by the Empress in 
all interior arrangements. 

Almost all the carpets, rugs, tapestries, and lamps 
were bought by Elizabeth in Morocco and Tunis, while 
the marvellous frescos with which the walls are deco- 
rated are, as I just ren. arked, the work of the celebrated 
Italian painters, Scanni, Paliotti, and Pastiglione. This 
dehghtful and truly imperial abode cost over forty 
million florins, not including, of course, the treasures of 

153 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

art which adorn the spacious picture-gallery, etc. The 
grounds are a dream of extraordinary magnificence, 
with their ever-blooming thickets of tropical plants and 
trees, their groves of palms, blue-gum trees, and their 
sparkling fountains. Behind the villa is a huge field of 
roses, comprising twenty - five thousand bushes, of all 
kinds and colors. A trellised walk covered with climb- 
ing noisette and nyphetos encloses this unique collec- 
tion, the flower-laden branches meeting and interlacing 
overhead, and then drooping in perfumed showers al- 
most to the ground. It would be indeed difficult to 
give an idea of this vision of loveliness, for the " rose- 
garden" is so planned that it has the least possible 
appearance of design. The luxuriant bushes of crim- 
son, 3^ellow, pink, and white roses seem to have chosen 
their own places, and to have chosen them most happily 
too. 

The stables, saddle and harness rooms, are, one might 
V almost say, the greatest marvel of this superb residence. 
The Empress ordered everything in this portion of the 
establishment to be brought from England, down to the 
wainscoting in light oak which lines the coach-houses 
and saddle-rooms. The stables are at some distance 
from the house, and constitute a very charming feature 
of the landscape, with their many gables, their latticed 
windows, and their pointed roofs, overrun with creepers 
and climbing roses. The broad sanded alley leading to 
them gently ascends through the park, and is bordered 
on both sides with beds of pink and white geraniums, 
and groves of blossoming camellias, azaleas, and monster 
ferns. 

The gardens and park descend in sloping terraces 
to the very edge of the sea, where a flight of ^teps, 
made of pink marble, leads to a private harbor. A 

154 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

light-house, also built of marble and provided with an 
enormous electric lamp, throws its dazzling rays over 
the water and on the surrounding woods. 

The sea-wall of pink marble is crowned with vases 
of majolica filled with aloe plants, and separates the 
grounds from the rippling dark-blue waves. 

On a slight rocky elevation at the farther side of the 
garden an exquisite little Greek temple is perched, 
about which, as well as around its rocky base, a wealth 
of noisette and multiflora climbing specimens are vying 
with each other to shed all the perfumes of Arabia on 
the mellow air. Single climbers wrap the great trees 
on the border of this Eden, displaying their matchless 
beauty of blossom in the very wantonness of security, 
hanging out their brilliant wreaths, fearless of hand or 
knife, for the Empress loved them and cared for these 
blossoms of nature more even than for the Golden Rose 
of Merit sent to her years ago by his Holiness the Pope. 

In this Greek temple the Empress used to sit with her 
V dogs at her feet gazing on the deep-blue sea, which ap- 
peared here and there between the forest of flowers, 
seeking comfort and consolation from the pain ever 
gnawing at her heart. 

Unfortunatelv, even the beauties of Achilleon failed 
to attain any such end, and the poor Niobe, hunted by 
the restlessness of a pain too great to be explained in 
words, decided not very long ago to abandon her lovely 
Greek villa. 

" V7ho shall assuage thy grief, thou tempest tossed, 
And speak of comfort, comfortless to thee ?" 

^ The monuments which had been erected in the gardens 
to the memory of Crown-prince Rudolph, and of her Maj- 
esty's favorite poet, Heine, were taken away and sent, 

155 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

y together with most of the art treasures contained in the 
salons and galleries of Achilleon, to Schloss Lainz, in 
the neighborhood of the castle of Schonbrunn, which 
then became the favorite retreat of the Kaiserin, a terra- 
incognita which is concealed from the public gaze by 
thousands of woodland acres. 

If Achilleon was a marvel of Greek and Pompeian 
reconstruction, Lainz seems to be torn out of the pages 
of some ancient record of legends or fairy tales. Sur- 
rounded, in spite of the immensity of the domain, by 
high, forbidding-looking walls, it is still further protected 
from any gaze, save that of the birds, by a belt of cen- 
tury-old trees of extreme magnificence, which cast their 
deep -green shadows upon the most velvety of emer- 
ald swards. Here again Elizabeth's love for flowers 
showed itself, the gardens being as near perfection as 
perfection is to be attained here below. The castle itself 
is embedded in masses of blossoms which literally beggar 
description, the many tropical plants finding during the 
cold months a refuge in the enormous winter-garden, 
which opens from the Empress's private suite of rooms. 
The building itself is very roomy and decorated in 
Eenaissance style, and the lofty entrance-hall is adorned 
with many beautiful paintings, including the celebrated 
'' Hunt of Diana," by Makart. A majestic salon, the 
walls of which are inlaid with wonderful mosaics, is 
called the Marble Room, and there is it that, hidden 
behind a movable panel, a jewel of an altar stands, of 
pure Eenaissance design, where the Empress's chaplain 
used to say mass every morning at sunrise. This altar 
is ensconced in a fretted and carved extension of the 
Schloss, according to the rules of the Catholic Church, 
which prohibit anything being built above such places 
of worship. 

156 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Up-stairs are the private apartments of the Emperor 
and Empress, separated by a large library so filled with 
palms, ferns, and shrubs in full bloom, emerging from 
great bronze and silver boxes, that it closely resembles 
a conservatory. 

The Kaiser's bedroom is austerely simple, a camp 
bed covered with military blue cloth, a jprie - dieu sur- 
mounted by a large crucifix, a superb painting repre- 
, senting the Blessed Virgin, and another of the Empress 
and her children, being about all it contains. Far more 
luxurious is Elizabeth's sleeping chamber, but still the 
dominating note is peculiarlj^- quiet and peaceful. "Walls 
and furniture are of a soft, creamy whiteness — that of 
the finest of velvets — the floor is covered with white 
bear-skins, and the windows are shrouded by cream- 
hued velvets, and Alenpon laces. Opposite the nar- 
row white lacquered bed stands a matchless alabaster 
statue representing a weeping ISTiobe. The pedestal of 
this exquisite masterpiece is smothered in banks of 
delicately foliaged green plants, and was lighted all 
night, whether the Empress was there or not, by tiny 
opalescent globes containing perfumed candles. Dur- 
ing her long attacks of insomnia the poor bereft moth- 
er found a sort of comfort in contemplating this, her 
counterpart, and used to lie with her lovely eyes fixed 
on the white form so pathetically pure and beautiful. 

The bed stood in the middle of the room, protected 
at the upper end by a huge screen, the central leaf of 
which consisted of an admirably painted picture of the 
Blessed Virgin. Between two of the four tall win- 
dows stood a statue also representing Mary, holding in 
her outspread hands a magnificent antique rosary of 
gems, which sparkled under the rays of the ever-burning 
sanctuary lamp of ruby-tinted crystal hanging above it. 

157 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

The Empress's study, which opened into her sleeping 
apartment, was filled with souvenirs / little frames, con- 
taining her children's and grandchildren's first attempts 
at drawing, hung above the great square writing-table ; 
a portrait of the dead king, Louis II. of Bavaria, was 
supported by an easel draped in cloth-of -silver. Every- 
where there was a picturesque litter of casts, sketches, 
books, and small and large bronzes. There were many 
priceless vases, adorned, of course, with exquisite flow- 
ers. The hearth was wide open and oak logs burned 
there morning and evening, shining on the carvings of 
the high chimney-piece, excepting in midsummer, when 
it was all filled in with flowers and plants. A beautiful 
marble copy of the Belvedere Mercury stood near by, 
with great clusters of snowy azaleas and white camellias 
around it. 

The dining-room was in keeping with the rest of the 
little castle, for there, also, flowers played the predomi- 
nant role. In the corners fountains,, of marble har- 
bored the most brilliant and also the most delicate speci- 
mens of the aquatic flora, which spread their intoxicat- 
ing fragrance from beneath the prismatic spray of the 
water- jets. 

Here on a console stood a remarkable toy, which the 
Empress took especial delight in winding up for the 
benefit of her grandchildren. It was a mandolin player 
dressed in the costume of the Kenaissance, and the mer- 
ry strains of the instrument he held accompanied the 
little automat's voice, which was extremely good and 
sounded astoundingly natural. When Archduchess Va- 
lerie's children came to Lainz the Empress always had 
some surprise in reserve for them. Often it took the 
form of dwarf fruit-trees brought to the table at des- 
sert, and from the diminutive branches of which the 

158 




EMPEROR FRANZ-JOSEPH WITH THE CHILDREN OF HIS FAVORITE 
DAUGHTER, ARCHDUCHESS MARIE -VALERIE 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

little ones gleefully gathered monster cherries, rosy 
cheeked apples, luscious pears, apricots, plums, or cur- 
rants. 

The Empress, this ardent lover of flowers, has often 
been compared to the edelweiss — the ice-blossom — which 
can thrive only in an untainted atmosphere ; but this 
comparison holds good only in so far as her crystal- 
like purity went, for to be simply and beautifully pas- 
sionless, in the grosser sense of the word, and far re- 
moved from human frailties and sins is not to be made 
of ice. It is what made her the most poetical, the most 
lovable figure among the royalty of Europe. I myself 
have always thought that the edelweiss was no fit em- 
blem for the absolutely unique type of blameless woman- 
hood represented by Empress Elizabeth. After all, the 
edelweiss is easily attainable and can be procured from 
the inhabitants of any Alpine village. A far likelier 
simile could be drawn between her and the wolfinia- 
carnthiana, which grows upon the very summit of the 
Garntnerkogel, in her Majesty's beloved Corinthian 
mountains, and nowhere else in the world. Like the 
wolfinia, the Empress soon drooped in any atmosphere 
that did not suit her, and her avoidance of just such 
atmospheres was what caused the ignorant crowd to 
accuse her of being eccentric, odd, and frozen. 

Every evening when at Lainz she retired to her own 
room punctually at ten, after having spent the previous 
hour or two in writing to her children and grandchil- 
dren, and to her sisters, with whom she kept up a con- 
stant correspondence, especially with the ex-Queen of 
Naples, of whom she was very fond. 

She rose at five, and by six was out of doors walking 
about the gardens, arrayed in one of those short tailor- 
made silk-lined black serge dresses which she wore so 

159 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

nrncli. She never could bear a dress to trail or even 
to touch the ground, save at court functions and state 
balls, and insisted on having all her skirts made very 
short, as she could not bear the trouble of holding them 
up, which, she declared, made her awfully nervous. 
She invariably carried a book with her in her rambles. 
"When there, also, during late years, she wrote a great 

V deal of prose and of poetry, for she said that writing 
amused her and kept her from thinking. That is rather 
a strange way of putting it, especially when one knows 
how full of thought, and beautiful thought, indeed, her 
literary work was. 

As an example, here is a portion of a letter written 
by her to a friend, and describing a visit which she 
made to an eccentric old gentleman who lived in the 

V neighborhood of Cairo, and whose great wealth and 
originality caused much talk there during many years : 

" The drive was a long one. It led us at first along 
the straight white boulevards of Cairo, then through 
winding, ancient streets, and beneath the splendidly 
mosaiqued arches of old Cairo, where the bizarre and 
attractive conflict of European and Oriental life spreads 
its strange panorama. At last we left the town, with 
its medley of loaded camels, white-bearded sheiks, Bed- 
ouins, and red-coated English soldiery far behind us, 
to enter a broad avenue of century-old sycamores, which 
followed the green bank of the old river. On we drove, 
until at a bend of the road we suddenly caught a glimpse 
of a densely wooded promontory jutting out in the dark- 
blue waters of the ISTile, and surmounted by a feathery 
bunch of tall palm-trees, the foliage of which seemed 
pencilled with extraordinary exactitude against the pale 
green and pink eveniDg sky. The red-hot ra^^s of the 

160 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

sinking sun shed their glory about this matchless pict- 
ure, which we admired in almost awed silence. 

" Rapidly the carriage turned from the main avenue 
into a private one barred by gigantic iron gates, which, 
however, were thrown wide open in our honor, while a 
hoab, or porter, wrapped in the numerous folds of his 
snowy gandurah^ salaamed with deep obeisance as we 
whirled past him. 

'* Truly it seemed as had we entered fairy-land ! All 
around us were clusters of tamarisk and orange and 
glowing pomegranate, overshadowing parterres filled 
with deep-hued flowers and protected by low hedges of 
thorny dwarf cactus. Above our heads the interlaced 
branches of colossal rose - laurels, magnolias, and jas- 
mine trees formed a fragrant bower which ended in a 
sort of glade, whereon arose the lacelike white marble 
minarets and towers of what appeared to be an en- 
chanted palace. Fountains played on aquatic blossoms 
of all descriptions, multicolored birds flitted over the 
lanceolated leaves of pink and blue lotuses, and soft- 
eyed gazelles scampered over the velvety lawns, losing 
themselves under the deepening shadows of the minia- 
ture tropical forest which backed the half-Moorish, half- 
Indian construction. Seen in the waning yet still brill- 
iant light of the eastern afternoon, the tableau, such as 
I, have attempted to describe it for your benefit, was like 
unto the evocation of some poet's dream, and I hardly 
believed myself to be awake when the carriage drew 
up before a flower -laden flight of steps. Ashamed of 
an astonishment so thoroughly out of place for a 
hardened traveller like myself, I alighted and com- 
menced to walk up the marble steps, where I was met 
by an apparition well in keeping with my surroundings, 
for I do not remember to have ever been so much 

L 161 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

struck by the personal appearance of any man in my 
life. 

" Our advancing host was a man of considerably over 
medium stature ; the easy grace which marked his move- 
ments told of a body in which true proportions of every 
limb, muscle, and sinew Avere the most marked char- 
acteristics. The face was noble, of a clear sunburned 
brown inclining to an olive tint, the brow was low and 
broad, the nose firm in its contour and somewhat aqui- 
line, while the mouth, surrounded by a silvery mustache 
and flowing beard, was of a generous Greek fulness of 
lip. The eyes,in marked and startling contrast with this 
darkish complexion, were of a dark luminous blue, yield- 
ing a strange radiance, and overshadowed by black 
lashes and brows. This majestically moving figure was 
clad in a loose robe of rich material and wonderfully 
blended colors, while on the hoary head was wound a 
turban of white and silver silken stuffs. 

" ' Welcome to my Thebcdde^ he said, in a deep, so- 
norous voice, as he bent over the hand which I extended 
to him; and retaining it in his, he led me across a 
mosaic terrace of great beauty to a chamber which I 
almost despair of describing by means of such poor tools 
as pen and ink. 

" When I first entered it I could not speak, in the ex- 
tremity of my amazement, for although I believed that 
I had seen a fair portion of this world's luxury, yet 
stood I speechless with surprise before this, to my mind, 
exact reproduction of Aladdin's treasure-chamber! It 
appeared to me as if both walls and ceiling were thickl}^ 
incrusted with gold and gems of the most magnificent 
description, and of a truth such was really the case, for 
on the pale -blue velvet serving as tentures hung an 
unparalleled collection of jewelled weapons, and other 

163 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ornaments of barbaric splendor : scimitars in scabbards 
scintillating with sapphires, diamonds, and rubies, yata- 
gans incrusted with emeralds and pearls, scarfs of cloth- 
of-gold fantastically embroidered with precious stones, 
while hanging-lamps of solid gold depended from the 
ceiling, above great tables of malachite, lapis lazuli, and 
jade. The entire floor was covered with azure velvet, 
and the low divans running all around this glittering 
room were piled with silken cushions of a deep-tinted 
amber color. A dainty repast of fruit, sweetmeats, and 
drinks, iced to a turn, lay in readiness on an inlaid table, 
on each side of which two servants in turbans of white 
and gold stood with folded arms. 

" In such company, and amid such surroundings, the 
hours flew like minutes, and it was with a feeling of 
regret that I rose at last to bid farewell to this extraor- 
dinary host of ours." 

This is pretty good English, and pretty good style 
for a foreigner who wrote to "prevent herself from 
thinking 1" I should say. 

The only time when the Empress appeared at any 
court ceremony since the death of her son was on the 
occasion of the visit of the present Czar and Czarina 
to Vienna. Her presence excited then even more inter- 
est and curiosity at the state reception given at the Hof- 
burg than did. that of the young Czarina, although the 
latter had never been in Austria before. 

The Muscovite imperial couple were received by Eliza- 
beth at Castle Lainz, which was a great compliment paid 
to the visitors, for guests were never entertained at Lainz, 
which the good Viennese called the Empress's " Sacro- 
sanctum." When the special train steamed into the little 
station of Lainz, the Czar and Czarina found, much to 

163 



THE MAETYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

their surprise and gratification, that the Empress had 
accompanied her husband, and that both of them stood 
waiting on the platform. The Emperor wore his favor- 
ite field-marshal's uniform and the Russian Order of St. 
Andrew, and Elizabeth was draped in the severe folds 
of a black-velvet dress and mantle. Her small head, with 
its weight of golden-brown braids, was crowned with a 
hat covered with black feathers, and in one slender hand 
she carried her accustomed black fan, while the other 
held a gigantic bunch of violets. 

The dejeuner^ \Thich followed almost immediately 
V upon the arrival of Nicholas II. and Alexandra-Feodo- 
rovna, was a success from every point of view, for it 
was not only a gastronomical feast, but it was typical 
of Elizabeth in being also a feast for the eyes and higher 
tastes. Flowers, music, perfumes, beautiful surround- 
ings lent themselves to make up a positively entrancing 
tout-ensemble. 

At the court ball the charming impression received 
during their visit to Lainz seemed to dwell upon the 
minds of the imperial guests. 

The old Hof burg had put on its most splendid appear- 
ance for the occasion. Lighted from basement to roof, 
filled with gorgeous exotics, and decorated in the most 
original and wonderful fashion, it 3^et preserved its ap- 
pearance of being a page torn from the illustrated chron- 
icles of the Middle Ages. Early in the evening the 
great salons and galleries, the throne-room and Eitter- 
saal were crowded with women in dazzling costumes 
and men in magnificent court and military uniforms, 
while a string of carriages kept unceasingly bringing 
other distinguished guests to the palace. 

A few minutes after eight o'clock the grand-master of 
the ceremonies, Count Kalman-Hunj^adi, announced, by 

164 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

rapidly striking the floor of the throne-room with his 
ivory wand of ofSce, that the court was approaching, 
and the Emperor, with the Empress of Eussia on his 
arm, made his appearance, followed by the Czar, led by 
Empress Elizabeth, by his brother. Archduke Karl-Lud- 
wig, with Archduchess Maria -Theresa, and by other 
members of the imperial family. 

All eyes were immediately turned upon the lovely 
Austrian sovereign who, in spite of all the sorrows and 
sufferings through which she had gone, could still be 
truthfully called the most beautiful woman in her domin- 
ions. Her toilette was a vision of severe elegance, chic, 
and perfection of taste. 

The endless fan-shaped train and bodice were of soft- 
est, most shimmering black velvet, veiled with black- 
silk gauze, embroidered with pearl-hearted black violets. 
On her proud head sparkled a diadem of black pearls 
and black diamonds, whence fell to the very hem of the 
court mantle a transparent veil of black gauze pow- 
dered with jet. Around the shapely Marmorean neck 
hung row after row of softly gleaming black pearls in- 
terspersed with brilliants, and she carried in her hand 
a sheath of Eussian and JSTeapolitan violets, tied with 
jet-embroidered black streamers, to which was fastened 
an enormous black marabout fan adorned with a crown 
in diamonds. On the left shoulder was attached the 
Stern-kreuz decoration, also in diamonds. The Czarina 
wore a court mantle and a skirt of light -blue moire- 
nacree, entirely veiled with gold-spangled blue tulle, the 
mantle being secured to the shoulders by epaulets of 
natural roses, a cluster of which also arose from the 
coronet of pink pearls, sapphires, and diamonds sur- 
mounting the waved hair. 

The Empress was in one of her most charming and 

165 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

amiable moods, smiling and conversing graciously with 
all the ladies of the corjps-di^plomatique in turn, and so 
youthful did she look that her contemporaries would 
have easily been taken for her seniors by at least twenty 
years. At half - past ten their majesties retired to the 
private council -room, where the presentations of the 
evening were made. 

When these were at an end, tea was served in the Gob- 
elin-room for their majesties and their immediate en- 
tourage^ while the other guests partook of supper in 
the Mirror and Pietradura rooms, at tables reserved for 
eight people each. At midnight the reception was over, 
and the imposing old palace was wrapped once more in 
darkness. 



CHAPTER X 

Like all mothers who truly love their children, the 
Empress was to a certain extent jealous of any outside 
influence which might be brought to bear upon them, 
and when the question of the Crown-prince's marriage 
was first mooted it became a very vexatious one to 
her. Of course she saw its necessity, not only as it 
was thought that it would steady down the rather wild 
young Prince, but also on account of providing for the 
dynasty a line of direct heirs to the ancient crown 
which he was to inherit. There were, at the time of 
which I speak, but very few marriageable Catholic 
princesses, and the one who was finally selected was, 
from the outset, by no means a satisfactory choice to 
Elizabeth, for she was the daughter of the King of the 
Belgians, whom the Empress could literally not endure, 
and of Archduchess Marie - Henrietta - Anne, herself 
daughter of the late Archduke Joseph, Palatin of Hun- 
gary, a woman who has always played a rather effaced 
and paltry role at the court of her tyrannic, unkind, and 
unfaithful husband. King Leopold. 

\/ Long were the discussions which the Empress and I 
had in private about this projected alirance. We both 

V^ "oTus disliked and mistrusted Princess Stephanie, who 
was a strange mixture of a higote and a flirt, and who 
already, at her early age — she was not yet seventeen — 
showed signs of a stubborn, narrow-minded, and set 
temper, bordering on mulishness ; besides all which she 

167 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

was by no means a pretty girl, very thin and angular, 
with very light hair, and a delicacy of complexion which 
betokened rather lack of health than real refinement of 
appearance. She Avas ungainly in all her motions, and 
had none of that grace without which a woman pos- 
sesses no charm whatsoever. 

During the negotiations which took place between 
the two courts the Empress was singularly despondent, 
a mood very foreign to her, and her tenderness for Ku- 
dolph seemed to become greater every day. He him- 
self did not appear to attach a very serious importance 
to the step which he was about to take. Light-hearted 
and somewhat sarcastic, if not a trifle cynical in his 
way of looking upon women in general, with the sole 
exception of his mother, whom he absolutely adored, 
and justly thought to be unequalled both morally and 
physically by any other member of her sex, Rudi used 
to come every afternoon at dusk into the oak-panelled 
library, which was the Empress's favorite retreat — and 
where, when I had the happiness of being with her, we 
invariably spent the hour before dinner — laughing, jok- 
ing, and attempting to put all our prognostications and 
fears to flight by his merry banter. 

"Where is the use of your making yourself miser- 
able, mother mine ?" he would say, sitting down on a 
cushion at her feet, before the brightly burning logs on 
the hearth, and taking the Empress's slender hands be- 
tween his own. " You know very well that as long as it 
is an impossibility for me to find a wife who resembles 
yourself in the very slightest degree, I may as well marry 
this good little Belgian girl. She is neither homelier 
nor more uninteresting than the rest of her kind, and as 
she is very young I may have a chance of moulding her 
temper the way it should be moulded. So don't you 

168 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

worry, and be quite satisfied that I am not madly in 
love with her, for in that case I know that you, jealous 
darling, would be a million times more unhappy yet !" 

How well lean recall those oft-repeated little scenes: 
the dim rosy light of the fire which threw fugitive 
gleams of color upon the embossed and emblazoned ceil- 
ing, and on the porphyry sculptures of the high mantel- 
piece, in front of which the Empress's two favorite 
gigantic Danish dogs lay stretched out at full length, 
while she herself, gowned in one of those exquisitely 
draped and lovely creations of velvet and fur, which she 

V generally wore when we dined quite by ourselves, sat 
without speaking much, but with a half smile on her 
lovely lips, which was, however, belied by the sadness of 

V her deep, changeful blue eyes. 

*' My poor boy ! my poor boy !" she kept repeating, 
" I am afraid you do not realize what misery such a 
marriage as that which you are about to make can 
bring about. The girl may be, as you say, moulded; 
she is young enough for that, Heaven knows ; but such 
moulding is not an easy or a pleasant process, and you, 
my dear, are not at all the kind of a man who possesses 
the perseverance to undertake the moral education of 
his wife ! My love for you shows me very plainly the 
defects which mar your many good qualities, and I know 
just as well as if the thing had already happened that 
you will get tired and annoyed at this role of mentor, 
which you now consider to be so easy a one. Your 
father wishes you to marry. To be sure, he looks upon 
your union with Stephanie more in the light of a nec- 
essary political event than anything else, but I am 
bound to consider the other side of the question, which 
is your home life, your ultimate happiness — in a word, 
( your entire future. Now, Stephanie is not, and never 

169 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

will be, the wife for you ; she is fond of admiration, 
of power, and of domination, and what is more, in- 
stead of looking upon religion as a means of making 
our sojourn here below less arduous and painful than it 
else might be, she closes her eyes to all the true beauty 
of the Catholic faith, and simply follows its strictest 
precepts in a spirit of defiance, one would almost think, 
and just as a child recites a piece of poetry learned by 
rote, the true sense of which it neither comprehends 
nor assimilates !" 

These conversations took place many and many a 
time, and the Empress and her son gave vent to their 
feelings, in the very same fashion, time after time, with- 
out any appreciable result on either side, for matters 
had already gone too far to allow the Crown-prince to 
be sufficiently influenced by them to retreat from the 
now fully adopted course; and as to the Empress, al- 
though she told me regularly after each of these en- 
counters that she well knew how futile her objections 
had become, yet she seemed impelled by some inner 
force to give expression to them. As subsequent events 
have shown, it would have been far better had her 
wishes in the matter been treated with more regard. 
Her keen intuition served her in good stead when she 
so bitterly opposed this marriage, which brought in its 
train a succession of catastrophes, miseries, and trag- 
edies, unparalleled in history. 

The Emperor and his counsellors had their way, and 
at last the time for the wedding was fixed, and the 
parents of the bride, with their daughter, made their 
entrance into Vienna. During the ceremonies and popu- 
lar rejoicings which preceded the great day, Elizabeth, 
although acting her part as mother of the bridegroom 
and hostess of one of the grandest courts of Europe 

170 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

to perfection, as she did everything else, could not suc- 
ceed in shaking off the deep and lasting melancholy 
which seemed to have settled upon her. Her distant, 
even icy behavior towards her future daughter-in-law, 
as well as towards King Leopold and Queen Henrietta 
of Belgium, was so marked that it was noticed by every- 
bodyc 

The prelude of the wedding entertainments Avas a 
popular festival in the Prater, and was certainly one of 
the most magnificent sights of the kind ever seen. 
Thousands upon thousands thronged the immense park, 
which had at that moment just put on all its spring 
loveliness. The delicate shade of the budding branches, 
the deep green mosses stretching like velvet under the 
grand old trees, the azure, sunlit sky, and the millions of 
blossoming violets, primroses, and narcissus which peeped 
forth everywhere, made a fitting background for this 
bridal fete, and the long road from Schonbrunn to the 
Prater was lined by row upon row of spectators who 
had come from all parts of the empire to obtain a 
glimpse of the gorgeous procession, headed by the roy- 
alties and consisting of sixty -two court equipages, 
which wended its way through the much beflagged and 
oriflammed allees. The luxury displayed on that day 
can be better imagined than described. The equipages 
were marvellous, the horses the best and finest con- 
tained in the imperial stables, and the gala liveries, as 
well as the toilettes of the ladies and the glittering uni- 
forms of the men present, made up an unrivalled coup 
d'oeil. In the foremost carriage were Prince De La- 
Tour-et-Taxis, Grand Equerry of the Empire, and Prince 
Hohenlohe, then Grand Master of the Court. In the 
second carriage were the Emperor, who wore the uni- 
form of a Belgian colonel, and the King of the Belgians 

171 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

in Austrian uniform. The other carriages were occu- 
pied by the Empress, with the Queen of the Belgians ; 
Crown-prince Rudolph, with his bride ; Princess Yictoria 
of Prussia — now Dowager Empress Frederick of Ger- 
many — with her brother the Prince of Wales ; Prince 
"William of Prussia — the present Emperor of Germany 
— who wore the uniform of an Austrian captain, with 
Archduchess Gisela ; Prince Leopold of Bavaria, with 
the Countess of Flanders, and the Grand-duchess Alice 
of Tuscan}^, etc. 

Empress Elizabeth,who wore a dove-gray moire gown 
covered with priceless lace and a small bonnet wreathed 
with pale violets, looked so excessivel}^ young and hand- 
some that it was an impossibility to believe her to be 
the mother of the tall, manly, and athletic Crown-prince, 
During the long drive she hardly ever spoke to Queen 
Henrietta, but sat very upright, bowing continuously to 
riffht and left in acknowledo^ment of the cheers and 
hurrahs of the populace, but with a look bordering on 
absent-mindedness on her fair features. The acclama- 
tions of the multitude became positively deafening as the 
corteo^e reached the Prater-stern : the horses of the ad- 
vance-guard could hardly proceed, for the people in their 
enthusiasm several times broke through the cordon of 
police, and serious accidents became so probable that 
the Emperor stood up in his carriage and requested the 
crowd to make way, laughing as he did so in his own 
cheery way, and calling out to them amid the sudden 
silence which his action had created : 

" Aher Kinder^ seien Sie dock nioht so dumm, Sie wollen 
die Hoclizeit des Kronprinzen und nicJit sein Leicheii- 
hegdngniss und den Euerenfeiren I Geben Sie uns dock 
Raum zu athmen P^ (But, children, don't be so foolish. 
It is your Crown-prince's marriage which you want to 

173 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

celebrate, and not his funeral as well as your own ; don't 
smother us this way !) Roars of laughter and more 
hurrahs were the result of this extemporary speech, 
and the good-natured Yiennese gave the example to 
their still more enthusiastic brethren from Hungary, 
Poland, Bohemia, Croatia, and elsewhere, in rendering 
the advance of the file of equipages more possible and 
less dangerous. 

In the evening of that memorable day the entire city 
was illuminated in the most magnificent fashion. The 
night was a singularly clear and beautiful one, the stars 
were sparkling in the clear sapphire skies, and the 
multitudes which filled all the streets and thorough- 
fares were still greater than during the day. For many 
nights and days previously the hum of collecting peo- 
ple and the tramp of many feet had been heard 
throughout the capital. People of every stock and 
province had flocked from wild Silesian forests, from 
remote Bavarian mountains, from Moldavian plains, 
and from Czeschen orchards. Pyramids of gas-jets 
flared up towards heaven, while trees made entirely of 
small, burning, luminous leaves threw their glare upon 
the tall buildings, every window of which was outlined 
with garlands of multicolored electric globes. 

In front of the numerous palaces which line the Ring- 
Strasse, brightly tinted fountains excited the admiration 
of all on-lookers, and the Yolks-Garten, the Stadt-Park, 
and the Schwartzenberg - Platz had been turned into 
fairy-like places, upon which the good burghers looked 
with open-mouthed admiration. 

The wedding ceremony, which took place in the 
Hofburg-Kappelle, was also one of the most splendid 
events on record. Unfortunately, during the mass, 
which was said by the Prince-Cardinal of Yienna, the 

173 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Empress's self-control completely broken down, and she 
gave way to a violent fit of weeping. The Crown-prince 
looked anything but cheerful, and the Emperor himself 
was evidently in the worst of humors. The many lights 
burning in gold candelabra, the crimson velvet draper- 
ies, and the masses of blossoming plants which decorated 
the chapel could not make up for the impression of sorrow 
and of loss which seemed to pervade the august assembly. 

Princess Stephanie was certainly most insignificantly 
homely and ill at ease, in spite of her magnificent dress 
of white brocade thickly embroidered with silver in a 
marvellous design of oak and laurel leaves, myrtle and 
heather blossoms. The low bodice was covered with 
silver filigree lace, and she wore a veil which had been 
presented to her by the city of Brussels, and upon which 
the arms of Belgium and of Austria were woven in the 
most exquisitely delicate manner. 

In spite of her sadness the Empress looked handsomer 
than ever. She wore a pearl-hued velvet gown with a 
long square train draped with antique Argentan-lace. 
Her wonderful hair was braided and coiled about her 
small patrician head in the fashion so familiar to those 
who knew her, and was adorned by a pointed diadem 
of immense diamonds and emeralds. In her hands she 
held a great cluster of white orchids, white violets, and 
lilies. 

As soon as she could possibly do so, and very shortly 
after the guests had risen from the elaborate supper, 
which had concluded the wedding feast, Elizabeth re- 
tired to her private apartments, where a few nights be- 
fore I had had occasion to witness the really terrifying 
depth of her grief. It was after one of the magnificent 
fetes given in honor of the jowag fiances, and noticing 
how pale and wan she looked, I followed her to her 

174 ^ ~ '^^ 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

room, well aware that she stood in sore need of a sym- 
pathetic listener. 

On that occasion, after having had the weight of 
her court-train and jewels removed by her women, she 
closed the door, and without a word began to pace the 
floor like a caged tigress in her incontrollable agita- 
tion. It was very rare that the Empress thus gave 
way to her emotion, but when she did so the full 
force of her indomitable nature became apparent, and 
revealed a depth of feeling which her usually calm and 
self-contained demeanor gave one no reason whatso- 
y/ ever to believe that she possessed. I knew her well 
enough not to fall into the error of offering any conso- 
lation or even of making any kind of remark, and so I 
sat quietly before the fire which had been lighted in 
her sleeping apartment — the nights being still cold — 
gazing abstractedly into the leaping flames, and think- 
ing within myself that the fat6 of the high and mighty 
is not often enviable. 

Suddenly Elizabeth, with a swift movement, came 
^ towards me, flung herself upon the floor, and, burying 
her proud head upon my knees, burst into an uncon- 
trollable passion of tears. Like the goose that I have 
always been, instead of attempting to soothe her I was 
so terrified and pained by this unusual display of sor- 
row that I knew no better than to follow suit, so there 
\/ we both sobbed our hearts out in the most undignified 
manner, as if we had lost all that made life worth liv- 
ing for! After a while, and when a little calm had 
succeeded the tempest, Elizabeth rose, and wiping her 
eyes with her poor little handkerchief, which had by 
now been reduced to the state of a wet sponge, she 
stroked my hair and said, softly : 

" You are a good sympathizer, and perhaps the only 

175 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

woman on earth who forbears from talking when words 
would be but added torture." 

" That does not prevent me from doing a deal of 
thinking," I replied, smiling faintly through my own 
tears, " and also from being ready to curse very freely 
all those who bring about anything that hurts you, who 
deserve nothing but joy and happiness." 

" All that I can say, if this is the case," rejoined the 
Empress, " is that I do not get my deserts, for life has 
not been dealing very kindly with me, especially lately. 
Mark my words : this business will bring untold misery; 
that girl is no more fit than a wooden doll to be Kudi's 
companion. She has no heart ; she has not even beauty 
— a quality upon which all Hapsburgs set, as you know, 
an inordinate amount of value. I am not blinded by 
my love for my boy — she cannot keep him straight ! I do 
not even say that he will get weary of her, for to state this 
would be to admit that he has at any moment been in 
love with her. But, dear me, how her ways and man- 
ners — or lack of manners, if 3"ou prefer it so — will pall 
upon him ! How soon he will become exasperated by 
her complaints, her childish exactions, and her monot- 
onous, narrow - minded ideas ! Do you think for an 
instant that he can stand an existence such as she will 
make for him ? She is jealous ; I have noticed it my- 
self, and her sister Louise has told me as much. 'Now 
what do you suppose is going to happen when she learns, 
which she will surely do soon, that he does not love her, 
and, possibly, that he has become interested in some 
other woman ?" 

I shook my head ; there was indeed nothing to answer 
to such logic, yet I felt so heartily sorry for the Em- 
press that I tried, perhaps clumsily, to show her the 
future in less sombre colors. 

176 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" He is such a dear boy," I said ; " he would not hurt 
a fly, much less his own wife, and she is not very in- 
telligent, if you will pardon me for saying so, not very 
clear-sighted either; self-love and self -admiration are 
difficult armors to pierce, and she possesses both to an 
extraordinary degree. I am quite sure that the last 
thing that she will think of is that she is not the cen- 
tral figure of the universe. Her empty little head has 
been completely turned by becoming the wife of the 
heir to the throne of Austro-Hungary, and by the time 
that she awakes from her present dreams she will have, 
let us hope, gained sufiicient knowledge of the world 
to realize what is due to her rank and position, and to 
avoid hourgeois scenes or public scandals. Trust to her 
singularly well- developed secheresse de cmur to render 
her perfectly satisfied with being the Crown-princess, 
instead of fretting herself about the Crown - prince's 
possible coldness or indifference." 

" N^ay, nay, you do not show your usual insight into 
human nature, my dear !" petulantly exclaimed the Em- 
press. " She will, on the contrary, make many serious 
scenes. She has pride, but not of the best kind ; it is a 
vainglorious kind of a pride, and it will not come to her 
assistance when she has wounds to conceal. It will all 
crumble to dust, and cause her to forget entirely that 
queens and empresses must carry their sorrows within 
themselves, and not show them forth to a public always 
eager to see them writhe and smart under the common ag- 
onies and every-day sorrows common to all womankind." 

There was no denying this! Time has shown that 
every word pronounced by the Empress on that night 
was wellnigh prophetic, and that she had, with her ex- 
traordinary cleverness, read her daughter-in-law's char- 
acter to a nicety. 

M 177 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

There was one person at the Austrian court who thor- 
oughly understood and appreciated the anxiety displayed 
by the Empress with regard to the Crown-prince's mar- 
riage, and who also thoroughly mistrusted the possibili- 
ty of his future happiness with Stephanie. That was old 
Archduke Albrecht, the uncle of the Emperor, and one 
of the few persons who always did justice to Elizabeth's 
merits, intelligence, and loftiness of purpose. There was 
'' not a more popular man in the Austro - Hungarian 

V army, nor in the length and breadth of the dual empire, 
than the Archduke. Kind-hearted to a fault, and of a 
shrewdness which was coupled with an extraordinary 
amount of finesse and Avit, he was beloved wherever he 

V went. At the end of the seventies I had the pleasure 
of counting the Archduke as one of my guests during 
the great Galician militar}^ maoeuvres, and I became then 
more than ever imbued with the feeling that he was 
what can be truly called tme dme cVelite. Indeed, I 
loved and reverenced him so much that I cannot resist 
the temptation of saying a few words especially con- 
cerning him, as a kind of homage to his memory. 

\J Up every morning at half-past four o'clock, the Gen- 
eralissimo was on the manoeuvring field at ^yq, his 
quick eye taking in at a glance the strong or the weak 
points of regiment after regiment. I delighted in ac- 
^companying my august guest on these expeditions, and 
could not but wonder at the remarkably diplomatic way 
in which he managed, when his interference was needed, 
not alone his stafiP of officers, but also every man present. 
I remember that one day he had reason to be dissatis- 
fied with the corps of drummers belonging to one of 
the infantry regiments of General Count Mensdorf's 
brigade. Galloping up to where they stood, drumming 
away for dear life, the Archduke brought his charger 

178 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

to a dead stop right in front of them, and, beckoning 
to the tambour -major, said, with a smile: "These 
men of yours can't drum, my lad!" The man, with 
an awe-stricken face, stood at attention, unable in the 
extremity of his confusion to utter a single word of 
apology or explanation. The smile deepened on the 
usually rather stern face of the Archduke, and jumping 
from his horse he seized hold of the drum held by one of 
the men nearest to him, and without further ado exe- 
cuted so masterly a charge of rat -tat -tats that the 
very trees echoed again ! After fully five minutes of 
this superb performance the old field -marshal stopped 
as abruptly as he had begun, and handing the still 
quivering instrument to its amazed owner, once more 
mounted his horse, exclaiming as he galloped away: 
"That is the way one ought to drum!" From that 
day the drummer -corps of that regiment became cer- 
tainly the best in Austria. 

Archduke Albrecht was a passionate student. He 
spoke Heaven only knows how many languages, and 
was so well versed in the manifold dialects used through- 
out his nephew's empire that he was able to converse 
with Hungarians, Poles, Slovacks, Czechen, Bosniaks, 
etc., as glibly as with Germans. His wealth was almost 
boundless, but so was his charity, and many were the good 
deeds accomplished by him in secret, especially at Yienna. 

In 1879 I had undertaken to supervise twice a week 
one of the volkshuchen (people's kitchens), to w^hich I 
have referred already in this volume. One fine morn- 
ing I noticed a rather seedy-looking individual who en- 
tered the hall, and sitting down at one end of a small 
table ordered a " portion " of soup and beef from one of 
the ladies in attendance. A twinkle of merriment came 
into my eyes, for at one glance I had recognized Arch- 

179 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

duke Albrecht, the owner of more millions than he 
could well count. Anxious to see the fun out, I brought 
the coarse plate and cup myself to the corner where 

/ Emperor Franz-Joseph's uncle sat, and handed them to 
him with the utmost impassibility. He seemed some- 
what embarrassed, and looked diffidently up at me 
through his spectacles. Not a muscle of my counte- 
nance relaxed, and with a slight nod I walked away, 
watching, however, from my corner how this poor man's 
fare would please the archducal palate. I may add 
that the entire " portion " was consumed without a 
single sign of distaste being manifested, and that at the 
end of this frugal repast his imperial and royal high- 
ness rubbed his mustache and finger-tips on his hand- 
kerchief just as unconcernedly as any other habitue of 
the volJcslcuche. As for me I went about my duties 
seemingly unaware of the keen look which he occa- 
sionally shot at me from under his bushy white eye- 
brows. At last he rose and prepared to go, but, as if 
suddenly altering his mind, he walked up to me, and 
drawing me to one side, said, gently : 

" You have recognized me in spite of my attempt at 
disguising myself, so I might as well tell you that I 
sometimes come here in order to see whether the food 
is what it ought to be." Then he added : " Do you not 

^- think that on this cold morning some hot coffee with 
plenty of milk and sugar would be a pleasant addition 
to the dinner of all these poor devils ?" 

I laughed a ready acquiescence, and ten minutes later 
a small notice placarded at the entrance of the huche 
informed the delighted customers that in consideration 
of the unusual severity of the weather, hot coffee was 
to be distributed without extra charge during the entire 
course of the day. 

180 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Poor Archduke Albrecht ! In the midst of all his wealth 
he was yet to be deeply pitied, for he never recovered from 
the blow inflicted many years ago by the tragic death 
of his lovely and beloved daughter. The young Arch- 
duchess, like Empress Elizabeth herself, was extremely 
fond of smoking cigarettes, but her lungs being some- 
what delicate her otherwise indulgent father had for- 
bidden her to smoke. One evening she was enjoying 
on the sly a tiny cigarette, and in order that the smell 
of the fragrant herb should not betray her, she was 
leaning out of the window of her boudoir. Suddenly 
catching sight of her father, who was walking in the 
palace gardens below, she hid the burning cigarette be- 
hind her back, while answering some remark which he ad- 
dressed to her, quite unconscious of the fact that she had 
set fire to her vaporous gauze dinner-gown. In a few 
seconds she was literally wrapped in flames — flames 
which were rendered more murderously violent by her 
running from the room in an agony of fear. Burned in 
the most shocking fashion, the young Princess lingered 
but a few days in the most horrible bodily torture. The 
accident having happened at Schonbrunn, she was car- 
ried back to Yienna in a bath-tub full of oil, it being her 
whim to die at her own dear home. The most skilful 
doctors tried all that could be done to save her, but it 
was of no avail, and the charming girl, so dear to all, 
succumbed in her father's arms, entreating him to the 
very last to forgive her disobedience of his orders. 

There was, in spite of this great sorrow, a vein of 
humor in the Archduke's composition much appreciated 
by the essentially jovial Austrian people, and like his 
nephew, the Emperor, he enjoyed a good joke, even 
when it was at his own expense, quite hugely ! 

Yery fond of hunting and shooting, Archduke Al- 

181 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

brecht made a point of spending a couple of months of 
every summer in one of the numerous villas which he 
owned in the Tyrol and Upper Austria; and when 
there he was indefatigable in the pursuit of the fleet- 
footed chamois. On these occasions he wore the cus- 
tomary yoppe^ or hunter's uniform, of gray cloih. passe- 
jpoiled with green, the soft felt hat adorned with a 
chamois-beard, and the tall leathern gaiters of the or- 
dinary Tyrolese mountaineer. Truth forces me, more- 
over, to state that as a general rule these garments were 
somewhat the worse for wear, and that there was noth- 
ing " dudish " about the appearance of the hero of Cus- 
tozza. 

Yiennese society still laughs about a little adventure 
which occurred to him when returning from a hunting 
expedition in the mountains above Ischl. Through 
some extraordinary chance the Archduke had wandered 
from his party, and losing his way among the narrow 
wooded paths descending to the valley, he determined 
to reach the first yager hut which he could succeed in 
finding by himself. Quickening his pace, he hurried on 
in the gathering gloom, until he reached a steep incline 
covered with slippery grass. A little ahead of him he 
soon discerned a dark figure seemingly heavily laden. 
"Wishing to inquire his way home, he hailed the un- 
known in a stentorian voice, and the figure came to a 
stop. To his surprise the Archduke found that it was 
that of a young girl of nineteen or twenty years of age, 
who, with the usual pluck of the Austrian peasant 
woman, had burdened herself Y\^ith a gigantic load of 
firewood, on top of which was perched a chubby baby 
about two years old, who maintained his perilous equi- 
librium by means of a long scarf tied by his careful 
mother around his fat little body and her own neck. 

182 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" What do you want ?" cried the girl, scanning the 
belated hunter with anything but a friendly look. 

" Can you tell me the shortest road down to Ischl ?" 
replied the Archduke. 

"I am going there — you can follow me," she retorted, 
curtly. 

Accepting this rather ungracious invitation, the impe- 
rial sportsman resumed his way beside her, but his sense 
of courtesy making him feel annoyed at seeing a woman 
carrying so exaggerated a weight, he said, pleasantly : 

''This is far too heavy for you, my good girl. Give 
me that child ; I will carry him." 

" Much you must know about carrying children, you 
old fool !" politely exclaimed the girl. " No, you take 
the firewood and I will keep the youngster. You may 
well do that, for had you not met me you'd have run 
a good chance of spending your entire night on the 
mountains." 

Hardly able to repress his amazement, the Archduke 
undid the scarf, transferred the little urchin to his moth- 
er's arms and the ponderous bundle of fagots to his 
own shoulders, and what with his gun and his game- 
bag, he was a pretty heavily burdened archduke in- 
deed ! To add insult to injury, the girl continued to 
chaff him unmercifully about the comical appearance he 
presented, and, as he later on asserted, he soon became 
a little tired of his bargain. 

For a full hour he trudged wearily along, wishing 
himself anywhere but among the high mountains with 
a load of wood on his back ; but at last relief arrived in 
the shape of his party, which came upon the ill-assorted 
couple at the crossing of two paths. No pen could de- 
scribe, or pencil portray, the amazement of the hunters 
at seeing their august master thus accoutred, and their 

183 



V 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

exclamations betrayed the Archduke's identity to the ap- 
palled girl. Falling on her knees, she craved his pardon 
for the crime of lese-majeste which she had unwittingly 
committed, and tears of shame sprang to her bonny 
blue eyes as she watched two of the Prince's hunters 
remove the fagots from his bruised shoulders. 

" Don't cry, there's a good girl," pleaded Albrecht, 
much distressed. " You did quite right, and I am 
mighty glad to have met you to show me the way !" 
So saying, he lifted the girl from the ground, and pull- 
ing a well-filled purse from his pocket, he pressed it 
into the baby's wee hands, adding, with a kindly smile : 
" Here is something to buy your mammy a donkey, for 
she might not always find old fools to help her carry 
her firewood !" 

Stephanie is the only person with whom I have ever 
seen him act in a curt and abrupt manner. He could 
not endure her, and fled her presence with an amusing 
display of energy ; and when matters came to a crisis 
between her and Eudi, I know that in his heart he 
unhesitatingly sided with his great-nephew. 

During the summer which followed her son's mar- 
riage the Empress seemed absolutely unable to shake 
off her melancholy forebodings, and it was only when 
she went to Godollo that the free and invigorating 
country life which she led there restored in a measure 
her much-shaken health and her peace of mind. Her 
piety, which was always great, although she spoke as 
little about it as about all other of her deepest feelings, 
became even greater. Every morning she attended 
mass at ^yq o'clock, and then after a very summary 
breakfast she mounted her horse and galloped off 
through the magnificent park, which is traversed in 
every direction by broad, sandy avenues. 

184 




EMPEKOR FRANZ -JOSEPH IN 1893 



I 



THE MAKTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

A mishap which occurred to one of her favorite hunt- 
ers at that time took, in her eyes, almost the propor- 
tions of an irretrievable catastrophe. Her nerves had 
become so unstrung that she had no longer the same 
power of recuperation which she had possessed for so 
many years. The accident to which I am about to 
refer may give the measure of her softness of heart, 
even where animals were concerned. 

We were riding alone together over a narrow path in v 
the glad light of a beautiful autumn morning. A thun- 
der-storm during the night had purified and cooled the 
air, the trees and bushes were still sparkling with moist- 
ure, and the dew-drops on the flower-filled grass glit- 
tered like countless gems in the sun-rays, while a host 
of little birds were twittering and singing in sweet, 
abrupt gushes in the branches overhead. My chestnut 
mare, " Black Pearl," was close to Elizabeth's magnificent 
hunter, " Sir Launcelot." I noticed with regret that the 
Empress seemed singularly dejected, and resolving to 
arouse her and dispel her gloomy thoughts, I said, 
briskly : " Come, your Majesty, let's have a gallop ; it 
w^ill do us all the good in the world, and ^Sir Launcelot' 
is dying for it." 

The Empress, who understood my motives perfectly, 
replied with a smile : 

" All right, dear, let's go ahead," touching her hunter 
slightly with her spur as she spoke. Off we went, " Sir 
Launcelot " laying his length out in his mighty strides, 
and my pretty chestnut racing her best by his side. 
They dashed neck to neck on the damp moss at a rat- 
tling pace, breaking straight for the open. Literally we 
were racing. The pace became tremendous as we 
reached the short grass of the Puszt4. Here a high 
fence towered, there a brook rushed angrily, but we 

185 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

stopped at nothing ; and both horses, their mettle roused, 
needed no touch of stick or spur, and rose in the air with 
bounds that knew no obstacles. 

"Take care!" I cried, suddenly catching sight of a 
broad, brawling brook running between two steep banks. 
The Empress only tossed her head ; such dangers as that 
which just lay before her she enjoyed more than any- 
thing else, especially when in her present mood. The 
jump was an awkward one, with a bad take-off, and an 
ugly mud-bank for a landing; the water was swollen 
by the recent storm, and the turf was sloppy and soft 
as a sponge. At that particular place it was risking life 
and limb to try it, but unhesitatingly she worked her 
horse up and charged towards it. " Sir Launcelot" was 
over like a bird, and I landed "Black Pearl" by a beau- 
tiful clear spring after him by a couple of lengths. On 
we rode, tearing across country for a mile and a half ; 
at last we dashed into a field breathless, but having 
almost forgotten our troubles in the excitement of the 
moment. Checking her hunter, the Empress sprang to 
the ground with a merry laugh, while I, with a con- 
tented smile, murmured : " That was a ringing run !" 

Elizabeth flung her arms around the glossy neck of 
"Sir Launcelot" and kissed his velvety nose. "Is he 
not a beauty !" said she, exultingly, leaning against the 
horse's side and patting his shining mane. He was, in- 
deed, not a very large horse, but with grace in every 
line — a small head, delicately tapered ears, slender legs, 
and large, intelligent eyes. The horse now stood alert, 
every fibre of his body strung to pleasurable excitement 
as the voice he loved best said, fondly : 

" You dear old rascal, that was well done !" They 
made a lovely picture, horse and rider, thus together, 
the beautiful woman, her eyes still flashing with pleas- 

186 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ure, her cheeks suffused with delicate pink by the ra- 
pidity of the pace, and her lovely figure set off to per- 
fection by her short, dark habit, leaning against the 
handsome steeple-chaser. 

A few minutes later we were away again, racing once 
more on the slightly undulating plain, leaping over 
blackthorn hedges into sloppy green meadows, over 
angry little brooks gurgling amid banks of rushes. 
Truly we had become intoxicated with the rapidity of 
our motion. The Empress "showed the way." Half 
an hour had gone by in that splendid running without 
a single check, in a speed like lightning, past clusters of 
brown-stemmed bushes and hedges bright with scarlet 
berries, while far away before our eyes stretched the 
blue haze of limitless distance, and above our heads a 
fliofht of cranes was makino^ for the south. We had 
loosened our horses to their full will and their full 
speed ; we had only to leave it to the gallant tempers and 
the generous fires that were in them to make them hold 
their own. All at once water gleamed before us, this 
time wider, brown, swollen, and rushing fast. "Black 
Pearl'- and **Sir Launcelot" scented it from afar, and 
went on with ears pointed and greyhound strides, gath- 
ering up all their force for the leap that was before 
them. Perhaps in our enthusiasm we had become 
oblivious of. the fact that the pace had been too rapid 
a one, even for perfect hunters, and instinctively, as I 
noticed the alarming breadth of the " yawner," I checked 
my horse slightl3^ " Sir Launcelot," however, rose blind- 
ly to the jump and missed the slippery bank. With a reel 
and a crash, to my horror, the Empress was hurled out into 
the brook, and the magnificent hunter lay there with his 
breast and forelegs resting on the ground, his hind quar- 
ters in the water, and his back broken. His race was run ! 

187 • 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

It is needless to sa}^ that I was off my horse in a sec- 
ond and helping the Empress, who was drenched with 
water and mud, up the bank. Her face was startlingly 
pale, but she seemed physically unhurt. She staggered 
to where the horse that she loved so well was under- 
going the throes of a last agony, and kneeling down, 
regardless of the water Avhich swirled about her, she 
threw her arms over his neck and leaned her own 
head down upon his, so that her face was entirely hid- 
den. She knelt so long, thus motionless, that a fear of 
her having fainted began to creep into my heart, and I 
touched her on the shoulder. She did not move for a 
little while longer, and when she at last raised her face 
the silken mane of the horse was wet with great, slow 
tears that had forced themselves through her closed 
eyelids ; then she laid her lips on " Sir Launcelot's " fore- 
head just as if he had been a human being, and with a 
backward gesture of her hand to me she walked off 
rapidly. 

Surely there have been many idols less pure and true 
than the brave and loyal - hearted beast to which she 
had just said an eternal good-bye. Dragging "Black 
Pearl," who was quivering and shaking all over, by her 
bridle, I followed Elizabeth, entreating her to mount 
my horse so that she might get back quicker to the 
castle, where she would be able to change her sodden 
clothes. A shake of the head was all the answer that 
she gave me, and seeing that to urge my plea would be 
but to hurt her more, I continued to walk by her side 
without saying another word. Of our long tramp back 
to the imperial residence I will say but little, although 
it has remained in my mind as one of the most painful 
moments of my none too agreeable existence. 

This new sorrow seemed to cast a deeper gloom upon 

188 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the Empress, and Ave departed from Hungary a few days 

V later to spend some weeks at Ischl, where we all hoped 

that the pure mountain air, which she loved so much, 

would help her to shake off her persistent despondency. 

Ischl is one of the prettiest and sweetest places in 
this world. It is calm, sedate, and simple ; its mornings 
are radiant, and so are its evenings, when the moon 
climbs over the heights of the pine-clad mountains and 
shines delightfully on the green ripples of the rapid 
little river Traun. 

The sadness which had overtaken Elizabeth was not 
of a kind from which her entourage had to suffer. 
She was too considerate, too truly kind to cast her 
own sorrows upon others, and her sweet, patient smile 
was always given to those Avhom she loved. Her in- 
domitable courage, both moral and physical, was real- 
ly a thing to be marvelled at ; for it never flinched. 
This has been well proved by the fact that at the last 
she could walk aboard the steamer at Geneva without Qq,^ 
betraying to any one the fact that her poor weary heart 
had just been pierced by the foul weapon of an assassin. 
The press reports argued at the time that she herself 
was not conscious of this, but I knew her better than 
that, and I realized fully that her inveterate hatred of 
any fuss, or of attracting attention upon herself, alone 
held her upright then, until she fell to rise no more. 

So strong was that feeling with her that it made her 
consider being pitied as almost akin to being shamed. 

During the sojourn which we made at Ischl that 
y^ year, an incident took place which is an excellent illus- 
tration of the Empress's powers of endurance, and which 
to this day I verily believe is known to nobody. It stiU. 
stands out as clearly in my memory as if it had occurred 
yesterday. 

189 






THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Always an intrepid mountaineer, the Empress de- 
lighted in climbing wellnigh inaccessible heights. Her 
slender, fair limbs, as strong as steel in a velvet sheath, 
would carry her upward to peaks where the yagers 
themselves found it troublesome to go, but where she 
■ maintained that the only air fit to be inhaled in this 
wide world of ours was to be found. 

Although not quite as passionately fond as she her- 
self was of these dizzy excursions, nevertheless I loved 
her too dearly not to accompany her, had the road been 
even far more arduous ; and often we Avould stay over- 
V night in these wild regions in some chalet perched on a 
ledge of rock at a great altitude. 

On the occasion to which I refer, we somehow or 
other lost our way on the high mountain range which 
towers above the quaint little town of Ischl. "We 
had climbed very high up, and night was falling, bring- 
ing with it an extremely low temperature. So cold, in- 
deed, was it that although we were barely in autumn, 
snow-flakes began to drop like great feathery tufts from 
the darkening sky. On and on we struggled, pausing 
from time to time to peer into the gathering gloom for 
the sight of some light, or at least of some familiar land- 
mark. Finally, just as we were despairing of getting 
out of this predicament, the Empress pointed with her 
alpenstock to a reddish glow shining through the in- 
creasing curtain of snow, and with renewed vigor we 
quickened our steps towards what we knew to be the 
beacon-light of a mountain refuge. 

We were not disappointed, and in a few minutes we 
had obtained admittance into the incommodious but to 
us perfectly delightful seclusion of the narrow, stuffy, 
closed shed, where we were glad enough to take shelter 
from the now raging storm. In the most democratic 

190 




EMPEROR FRANZ -JOSEPH IN HUNTING-DRESS 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

fashion we took our places with some yagers and cow- 
herds around the brightly blazing stove, awaiting with 
what patience we could muster the moment when we 
would be able to turn our faces towards Ischl. 

Towards nine o'clock, the wind having chased away 
the snow-laden clouds, the moon shone forth in a purified 
sky, and engaging the services of one of the yagers 
as a guide, we commenced our perilous descent, risking 
much to avoid causing anxiety at the imperial villa, 
where her Majesty was expected. Cautiously we ad- 
vanced on the slippery rocks, holding on at times to 
bowlders in order to maintain our equilibrium on the 
treacherous path. First went the ydge7\ an old Tyr- 
olese, as sure-footed as a goat, followed closely by 
the Empress, behind whom I stepped as briskly as cir- 
cumstances permitted. Suddenly I saw a jagged bit of 
rock detach itself from the precipitous slope we were 
skirting and, thundering past the Empress, roll with a 
deep thud into the darkness beyond. A short excla- 
mation from the imperial lady made me inquire if she 
were hurt, but receiving no answer, and seeing that she 
did not slacken her pace, I took no more heed of the 
affair, having more than enough to do in making my 
own progress. 

The night was far advanced when we at last reached 
the Kaiser villa, and we went straight to our apart- 
ments to remove our damp, soil-begrimed clothes before 
taking some refreshments, and then some sleep, of both 
which commodities we were sorely in need. As the light 
from the swinging-lamp in the upper hall fell on Eliza- 
beth's face I was struck by its extreme pallor, and also 
by the fact that her left hand was hidden in the breast 
of her gray cloth yoppe^ or hunting - jacket. My im- 
mediate inquiry brought out a reluctant avowal to the 

191 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

effect that the loose stone had fallen directly upon the 
hand, with which she had been clinging to the rocky 
wall for support, but I was peremptorily asked " not to 
make a fuss, and not to speak of the matter to a living 
soul." Between the two of us we bandaged the sadly 
crushed, delicately tapering fingers, which must have 
caused excruciating torture to their plucky owner dur- 
ing that long tramp down the mountain-side, but which 
could neither bring her to wince or to complain, nor 
prevent her through it all from being the leading spirit 
in our small party. On the morrow the Empress ap- 
peared wearing, as she often did in the house, a pair 
of long suede gloves, and no one was ever allowed to 
notice what effort it cost her to use those poor maimed 
fingers. 



CHAPTER XI 

In the mean time the matrimonial relations of Eu- 
dolph and Stephanie were not by any means satisfac- 
tory. Already the prognostications of the Empress 
were fulfilled, in a measure, for dissensions and con- 
tinual misunderstandings were gradually becoming more 
frequent between them, and the Crown-prince showed a 
moodiness which he had never displayed before. Yery 
talented, the young man, who had always been inter- 
ested greatly in literature, began to wield his pen to some 
purpose, and wrote several remarkable works, including, 
later on, a volume of Travels Through the Orient^ of which 
he was not only the author but also the illustrator. 

Stephanie's worldliness had now completefy out- 
weighed her much -boasted religious feelings. A true 
butterfly of fashion, she cast herself into the whirl of so- 
ciety with an energy and passion which nothing could 
subdue. Her personal appearance had not improved 
very greatly, but she was always admirably dressed, 
and knew how to make the most of the scanty amount 
of looks which she possessed. That Rudolph was thor- 
oughly dissatisfied with his new mode of existence 
could not long remain a secret at court, and once more 
two partis formed themselves, the one in favor of the 
winning young Archduke, the other — and I am glad to 
say the weaker of the two — took part for the Princess, 
who began already to be called by this faction, " Die 
Arme Stephanie." 

N 193 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

^ j^3 A little over two years after her marriage the Crown- 
princess gave birth to a little daughter, who was named 
after the Empress, but even this family event did not 
serve to unite the hearts of the young parents. The 
Crown-prince, like his mother, sought comfort and for- 
getfulness in devoting much of his time to sports of all 
descriptions, and became more than ever a devoted fol- 
lower of Nimrod. He had always loved both the hunt 
and the chase, but now he threw himself into all bodily 
exercise with untiring eagerness. This, of course, was 
a new cause of grievance for the Crown-princess, who 
immediately adopted the pose of a neglected and aban- 
doned wife, and heaped reproaches upon her luckless 
husband's head. Scenes which were indeed of the 
most hourgeois kind became more and more frequent. 
V Stephanie raved, cried, and vituperated to such an ex- 
tent that what is in German called "Gemiihtlichkeit" 
fled from their home. Eudi, thoroughly out of patience, 
entered upon a course which, if not entirely commend- 
able, at least was excusable, for he absented himself as 
much as possible from an environment which had be- 
come even to him, easy-going as he was, a perfect hell 
upon earth. 
yj One dark autumn afternoon I was sitting at home 
dreaming before a roaring blaze of cedar-logs, when the 
door of ray boudoir was suddenly flung open and, with- 
out any of the ceremonious announcements which in- 
variably herald a royal visit, the Crown-prince rushed 
into the room, dressed in plain clothes, and with a face 
so wild and haggard that I was nearly frightened out 
of my wits. 

" What on earth is the matter ?" I exclaimed, jump- 
ing to my feet. 

" Everything is the matter !" he replied, casting him- 

194 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

self into a low chair, from which, however, he immedi- 
ately rose again to take a few furious strides about the 
apartment. 

" Cannot you be a little more precise, and stop terri- 
fying me in this fashion ?" I said, somewhat peevishly, 
for his violent entry had considerably startled me. 

" I beg your pardon," he said, with more composure. 
" I know that I am becoming a nuisance to others as 
well as to myself, but truly, I must speak to somebody or 
else explode. My poor mother is not at present strong 
enough to be troubled by my sorrows, which she predict- 
ed, I am bound to acknowledge, so I came here to un- 
burden my heart. We have always been awful chums," 
he added, relapsing into his habitual familiar slang, " and 
you have been very good to me, stanch and true and as 
thoroughly reliable as any man friend could have been." 
. *' Thank you," I laughed, "that is a great compli- 
ment ; but really, Eudi, won't you please sit down and 
tell me what has occurred ? I know that you haven't 
been feeling very happy of late, but still, surely matters 
cannot be bad enough to make you act in this fashion 1" 

" Oh yes they are ; my wife is simply unbearable ; in 
fact, sometimes I think that she cannot be altogether in 
her right mind. She is so jealous that if I merely look at 
another woman, if I dance with one, or pay any of these 
small little compliments without which no conversation 
can be carried' on, as you know very well yourself, with 
any members of the fair sex, she treats me like a dog, 
and rampages about for hours together." 

" Well, that is all very nice," I said, impatiently, " but 
we warned you how it would be ; and besides which, you 
cannot deny. Master Eudi, that you are a sad flirt, and 
that she may not be entirely wrong when she objects to 
the many hearts that you break." 

195 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Oh, stop that — do ! I would have been a right enough 
kind of a husband if she had known how to behave her- 
self, but I cannot bear to be watched, and followed, and 
tracked, and questioned, and annoyed, as she persists in 
doing. I tell you what I'll do if this goes on much 
longer. I will give her something serious to cry for ! 
Until now, Heaven knows, I have nothing to reproach 
myself with, and I can look her straight in the eye with- 
out a tremor ; but when it comes to my having to give 
her an account of every minute of my days and nights, 
and to finding out that my private letters are being 
opened, my body-servant cross-questioned, and my pock- 
ets searched, I draw a line ; and so would you if you 
were in my place." 

" My dear boy, be so kind as to ring the bell for tea, 
and while we are drinking this beverage which our Eng- 
lish friends claim to be so powerful a restorative, I will 
take the liberty of reading you a lecture." 

He looked puzzled ; then the quick, merry, winning 
smile, which reminded one so much of his mother's, 
flitted over his drawn features, and, pressing the elec- 
tric button of the bell, he sat down more like a reason- 
able being and, lighting a cigarette, gazed abstractedly 
out of the window, watching the snow-flakes as they be- 
gan to fall upon the now completely denuded trees of 
the Kingstrasse. 

A few minutes later, as we sipped the comforting cup, 
which had been brought in at his summons, I renewed 
the subject, and pointed out to him what a disastrous 
effect any outbreak on his part would have upon the 
Empress. This was the best way to take him, and he 
softened at once ; but still I knew him well enough to see 
that his exasperation had almost reached its last limits, 
and that sooner or later some scandal or other would 

196 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

come to add its bitterness to my beloved Kaiserin's al- 
ready full cup of misery. 

When he left me that afternoon he was somewhat 
pacified, but I shuddered as I thought of all that was to 
come. 

Disliking the Crown - princess from the very first, I 
could not look very charitably upon the role which she 
was now playing, and her heartlessness infuriated me 
absolutely. What a different man Rudolph would have 
been but for the baneful influence which his wife exer- 
cised over him. In all truth, he was one of the most 
chivalrous, kind - hearted young men I have ever met, 
and to-day I am convinced that the change in his 
whole being which led to the tragedy of Mayerling can 
justly be laid at the door of the sour-tempered, over- 
bearing, narrow-minded woman whom he was so unfort- 
unate as to marry. 

Matters went from bad to worse, and Rudi, rendered 
thoroughly wild by being always falsely accused, ended 
by carrying his flirtations further than he ought to have 
done. This alteration in his principles — which, in spite 
of all that has been said to the contrary, were good, high, 
and noble — was brought about by Stephanie herself in 
the following manner: 

- Rudolph, who, as he said himself, did not know what 
to do with his evenings when there was no official oc- 
casion which he was forced to grace with his presence, 
and who dreaded a tete-d-tete with his irascible wife, went 
one niofht to visit a well-known actress who had been 
presented to him by one of his friends, a young officer 
with whom the lady in question was on the best of 
terras. The Crown-prince drove to her house in an or- 
dinary ^c^c/"^, which he left at the door waiting for him. 
Meanwhile Crown -princess Stephanie, finding out by 

197 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

means best known to herself where her husband was 
about to spend the evening, followed him in one of 
the court equipages. Upon arriving at the above-men- 
tioned lady's house she alighted, and bidding her coach- 
man wait for the Crown -prince, she got into his hired 
conveyance and peremptorily ordered the amazed jehu 
to drive her back to the Hofburg. Kecognizing the 
Crown-princess, the man did not dare to disobey ; and as 
for the imperial coachman, he sat transfixed with aston- 
ishment and horror upon his box, not knowing what was 
best for him to do. Half an hour later, upon leaving 
the house, Rudolph had the decidedl}^ agreeable sur- 
prise of being confronted by his wife's carriage, coach- 
man, and beplumed chasseur. JSTo wonder that this in- 
cident capped the climax of his already only too just 
exasperation, and that night the apartments of the heir 
apparent echoed with the resounding noise of reproaches 
and sobs. Shortly afterwards the Crown -prince pur- 
chased the hunting-lodge of Maj^erling, the spot where 
he was to breathe his last under such tragical circum- 
stances. 

His taste for natural studies, which won for him the 
reputation of being one of the foremost zoologists and 
ornithologists of Europe, had full play during his more 
and more frequent sojourns at Mayerling. He took 
an extreme pleasure in decorating this picturesque resi- 
dence with his trophies of the chase, and often he would 
spend hours together in what he was pleased to call his 
'' workshop," preparing with his own hands for stuffing 
the birds he had shot, and labelling curious specimens 
of rocks and stones and other minerals which he found 
in his endless rambles through the surrounding hills and 
woods. 

His apartments resembled more a museum, or the 

198 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

rooms of a professor of natural history, than those of a 
high and mighty prince. One of the salons was arranged 
so as to represent a forest, with grottos of rock, trees 
and shrubs planted in enormous boxes concealed under 
moss and trailing ivy, and was decorated with magnifi- 
cently disposed and lifelike animals. A huge bear, the 
first which the Crown-prince had shot when staying at 
Munkacs, seemingly clung to a pine-trunk, and several 
superb eagles looked as if they were about to swoop 
down from their elevated positions near the ceiling. 
Owls, lynxes, pheasants, foxes — nay, even deer and stags 
— were all to be found in this wonderful room. 

One of the most cherished possessions of the Crown- 
prince was contained in a large glass-case, and was noth- 
ing less than the carcass of a horse in the act of being 
devoured by vultures, hawks, and ravens, the whole 
group being wonderfully prepared and executed, and 
giving one an exact idea of the grewsome thing itself. 
These birds were shot by Rudolph during his trip of 
"fifteen days on the Danube" which he described in 
one of his books, and also in Spain, in Egypt, and on 
the island of Plawnik, in the Quarnero. 

The Prince's study at Mayerling was decorated with 
wonderful specimens of foreign and domestic arms — 
guns, carbines, pistols, matchlocks, swords, kandjars, and 
yataghans inlaid with gold, silver, and mother-of-pearl. 
These rested on the antlers of the many deer which 
Eudi had shot or forced. The magnificent snow-white 
Edelhirsche (noble deer) which he shot in Bohemia were 
perhaps the most remarkable items of this beautiful col- 
lection. 

He might still have been happy with his scientific 
and literary pursuits, his hunts and chases and his long- 
distance rides through hill and dale, for besides all this 

199 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

he was a wonderful musician, a painter, and a draughts- 
^ man of no mean talent, and passionately fond of study 
and of reading, all these qualities being inherited from 
his mother, but, unfortunately. Crown-princess Stephanie 
objected to his stays at Mayerling, or to any travel or 
occupation which she was not allowed to share. At 
first, to be sure, had she been so minded, he would have 
been glad to make her his companion even on his ex- 
peditions after fur and feathers ; but, to her, brilliantly 
lighted salons filled with well-dressed women chattering 
about fashion and folly, and with a bevy of young men 
ready to flirt and to talk nonsense, were far more agree- 
able than long tramps and rides under forest boughs or 
on mountain peaks, and her scorn for her husband's 
>^ favorite pastimes was so well defined, her sneers so 
marked, that he let her take her own way and stopped 
asking her to join him. To be sure, after his wretched 
death she gave it out to the world that she was oc- 
cupied in compiling and editing his last book, the one 
in fact which he was engaged in writing when he took 
y his last trip to Mayerling, but like many other things 
which were at that time bruited among the public, 
there was but little truth in this post-mortem and singu- 
larly sudden devotion. 

Of course the Empress, who had not been long in find- 
ing out what her son's matrimonial life really was, felt 
altogether broken-hearted about it, and when she spoke 
or wrote to him, she attempted by all means within her 
power to console and soothe him. It was at that time 
that she wrote several singularly touching little poems 
in the Hungarian language, which betrayed her state of 
mind. 

It was then, also, that she wrote a little poem about 
the famous legend which connects every misfortune 

200 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

happening to the House of Hapsburg with the appear- 
ance upon the scene of a raven, little thinking that some 
few years later her own death would be thus heralded. 

Everybody has heard of the flight of ravens which 
swept across the little town of Olmlitz during the min- 
utes when Emperor Franz-Joseph accepted the crown of 
Austria, and with it a weight of sorrows such as seldom 
has been carried by a monarch. When Maximilian was 
about to start on his ill-fated journey to Mexico in order 
to assume his duties as sovereign, a raven was seen by 
him and his wife Charlotte during a last walk which 
they took in the grounds of their castle of Miramar. 
The bird persistently followed them, and when they sat 
down upon a bench under a clump of sycamores it flew, 
or rather hopped, towards them and settled itself on one 
leg upon the sweeping folds of the future Empress's 
train. Again, when Archduchess Maria -Christina was 
about to enter the carriage which was to drive her to 
the railway station, whence she departed for her future 
kingdom of Spain — a land where she suffered all that 
a woman can suffer in her affections, her pride, and 
her health — an enormous raven kept hovering over the 
horses' heads and actually kept up with them during the 
whole drive. 

On the afternoon which preceded the Empress's as- 
sassination at Geneva, she wandered for several hours 
in the mountains about Territet with her reader, Mr. 
Barker. The latter had brought with him a basket of 
fine fruit, the Empress being in the habit of partaking 
of some every day in lieu of five - o'clock tea. Seated 
upon some moss-grown rocks, the imperial lady, while 
listening to Mr. Barker, who was then reading to her 
Marion Crawford's celebrated novel Corleone^ drew the 
little basket towards her and began to peel a magnifi- 

201 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

cent peach, of which she offered half to her reader. Just 
as she was in the act of handing him his share, a huge 
raven flew down from a tall pine-tree whose dusky 
branches were casting a deep shade upon the pair, and 
touching Elizabeth's forehead with the tip of its sombre 
wing, actually knocked the peach out of her hand. Ke- 
memlDering the dread legend of the Hapsburg ravens, 
^ Mr. Barker jumped up with an exclamation of fear, but 
the Empress began to laugh, and said to her startled 
attendant : 

" Don't be alarmed ! I am not superstitious, and if 
something is to happen to me soon, it is not that poor 
bird which will have caused it. Anyhow, you know my 
ideas about death: I am not afraid of it. When one's 
heart and soul are dead it matters but very little when 
the earthly envelope follows suit. My heart and soul 
have been dead for the past ten years !" she added, with 
a sad smile. 

" Nevertheless, your Majesty," replied Mr. Barker, " I 
am not easy in my mind. I had a horrible dream last 
night about my mother, and I know that something 
terrible is going to happen." 

The Empress gazed at him for a moment in astonish- 
ment, and then, with a shrug of her shapely shoulders, 
she rejoined : 

" My dear Mr. Barker, I hope that you are too sen- 
sible to let evil dreams gain any influence over you. I 
thought that, like myself, you were a fatalist. Our time 
comes when it is appointed to come, and nothing that 
we can fear or fancy will ever alter our fate. Many 
years ago I had an awful dream myself. It was at the 
time when my cousin, Louis of Bavaria, died, and this 
sinister vision of mine came true ; but, perhaps just be- 
cause of this fact, I have schooled myself ever since 

202 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

. then not to let such wanderings of my mind when I am 
asleep create too great an impression upon me when 
awake. Life is not happy enough for us to spoil what 
few joys we have by worrying about such prognostica- 
tions and ill-omened signs from the land of dreams. 
Follow my example, my dear Mr. Barker ; it is a duty 
which we owe to ourselves and others as well." 

But to return to the Crown-prince and his wife, from 
whose dissensions I have wandered. I am forced to state 
that shortly after the purchase by Eudolph of Schloss 
Mayerling, Stephanie committed another of those dread- 
ful mistakes which alienated the heart of her husband 
so completely from her. He had left Vienna to go 
and spend two or three days at his hunting-lodge, when, 
on the second evening after his arrival at Mayerling, an 
ordinary cab drew up before the gates of the little cas- 

J tie, a/ud a heavily veiled lady asked for admittance. 
According to the rules in use at all roj^al and imperial 
residences, this could not take place without the visitor's 
revealing his or her identity, and as the lady refused to 
do this, the Crown-prince's valet, Loschek, was called. 
"When he appeared on the scene, the lady drew back 
her veil and revealed the features of Crown -princess 
Stephanie herself. Of course Loschek could but bow 
low, and make way for his mistress to enter the premises. 

^ Shortly afterwards the voices of husband and wife, raised 
in tones of anger, were heard distinctly by the attend- 
ants ; and, unfortunately, the violence of their emotions 
rendered them so careless that the following words were 
plainl}?- heard by two or three servants, who, of course, 
did not fail to repeat them to their own friends and 
boon companions, thus spreading among the public a 
lamentably true version of what the relations of Eudolph 
and Stephanie were. 

203 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" I know that you betray me !" shrieked the Princess, 
shrilly. " You come here to receive your fair friends, 
and I won't have it. Do you understand ?" 

Hoarse with fury, Rudolph exclaimed in return : 

" What you say is untrue. There is not a solitary wom- 
an here ; you will drive me crazy if jou go on like this, 
and were it not for the sorrow that it would cause my 
parents, I would leave you this minute forever." 

A few minutes afterwards the ill-assorted couple left 
Mayerling and drove back to Vienna ; and when this 
drive was at an end practically all hope of peace or 
reconciliation was lost, for so embittered did the Crown- 
y/ prince now become that he seldom if ever saw his wife 
alone. 

One fine day the latter, beside herself with ever- 
increasing anger at the powerlessness of her efforts to 
chain down the unfortunate Rudi, telegraphed to her 
father telling him that she had decided to return to 
Belgium. The old King, who was far too wily and 
shrewd a man not to do everything possible to pre- 
vent such a scandal, replied, also by telegraph, in the 
following fashion : 

\ " Stephanie : C'est wire devoir de Tester a cote de wire mari, le Prince 

HeritierT 

(Stephanie : It is your duty to remain at the side of your husband, 
the Crown-prince.) 

In 1888 Rudolph was asked by his father to put in 
an appearance at the Polish ball, which is one of the 
most brilliant social events of the Viennese Fasching, or 
carnival. The Crown-prince, in obedience to his father's 
wishes, drove to the ball in a very despondent mood, 
for on that very afternoon he had had another violent 
scene with his amiable wife. But, with the mobility of 

204 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

his pleasure-loving nature, as soon as he entered the daz- 
zlingly lighted and flower-filled salons he cast his cares 
off and gave himself up to the enjoyment of the moment. 

The Polish ball is, as I remarked before, a very beau- 
tiful function, for all the great Polish nobles who have 
taken up their residence in the capital make a point of 
being present, wearing their national costumes, which 
are a marvellous combination of gold-embroidered vel- 
vets, costly furs, and costlier jewels. 

Under a group of palms and gigantic ferns sat a 

V young girl of such a remarkable personal charm that 
the Crown-prince immediately inquired who she was. 
He was informed that she was the daughter of Baron 
Yetsera, and of the sister of those celebrated and enthu- 
siastic sportsmen known in Austria as the "Little Bal- 
tazzis." The Baltazzis are Greeks, but thanks to their 
immense w^ealth and their passion for horse-flesh, they 
implanted themselves many years ago in Viennese soci- 
ety ; not in court circles, to be sure, for in order to be 
presented at court it is necessary, to begin with, to be 
able to prove the regulation sixteen quarterings on both 
sides, and the Greek bankers in question would have 
possibly been much embarrassed to prove any quarter- 
ings at all. However, both Hector and Aristides Bal- 
tazzi had been presented to the Emperor, as well as to 
the Empress and to other members of the imperial 
family, in the hunting-field, and as one of their sisters 

\/ had married an Austrian nobleman of the name of 
Baron Yetsera, another the equally noble Austrian Baron 
Stockau, and one of the brothers the lovely Countess 
Ugarte, the family could be said to hover on the edge 
of a very aristocratic set. Moreover, so whispered the 
chronique scandaleuse, when Baroness Yetsera made her 

V debut in society after her marriage, the Emperor had 

205 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

been an ardent admirer of her dark Oriental beauty, his 
attentions having caused a great amount of talk at the 
time. 

Marie Yetsera, the Baroness's daughter, had spent most 
of her girlhood abroad, and thus it was that until the 
ill-fated night of that particular Polish ball no member 
of the imperial . family had as yet set eyes upon her. 
She was then nineteen years old, and in the bloom of 
her extraordinary loveliness. Tall, slender, with magnif- 
icent dark eyes, shaded by incredibly long and silky 
lasiies, she possessed a charm and a piquancy which, 
even at Yienna, where beautiful women are the rule 
and not the exception, produced a distinct sensation. 
Her perfect figure displayed to admirable advantage by 
a simple but exquisitely draped gown of white crepe, 
which had no other ornament than some clusters of 
white violets and white heather, she reclined under the 
green shadow cast by some tall plants, playing listlessly 
with her fan of white feathers. She seemed quite un- 
conscious of the sweet picture which she made, her small, 
well-shaped head leaning against a pile of cushions, and 
a crescent of diamonds — her sole jewel — sparkling in the 
masses of her dark wavy hair. 

There was something so attractive, so delightfully 
pure and refined and out of the ordinary in her appear- 
ance that the Crown-prince asked to have her introduced 
to him, and was soon sitting by her side, talking gayly 
about the ever -changing pageant before their eyes. 
Before long he asked her to dance. 

The Austrians are proverbially the best waltzers on 
earth, and to waltz with Rudi, who had mastered that 
difficult art with his usual capacity for doing exceed- 
ingly well everything that he did at all, was a revelation 
to Marie. The Crown-prince was not what is commonly 

206 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

called a good-looking man, but he was worse than good- 
looking, for when he chose to make an effort he became 
absolutely and irresistibly seduisant. 

It is supposed that in novels only does one encounter 
the famous coicp defoitdre, but real life has given many 
proofs that such a thing exists, and we stand face to 
face with just such an instance when speaking of this 
first meeting between the heir of Austro- Hungary's 
crown and the heiress of the Baltazzi millions and of 
the peculiar style of beauty of the Baltazzi women. 
Marie, who had been much courted from the very outset 
of her career in Austrian society, had from that moment 
no thought excepting for the stalwart prince whose eyes 
— the finest feature which he possessed — had known so 
well how to make her understand at once that the time 
had come for him to lose his heart for good and all. 
This was no budding flirtation, no little drawing-room 
intrigue which serves to while away the hours and give 
a little zest to the insipid existence of most society men 
and women, but the genuine bona fide passion which 
has been pictured by the poets from time immemorial. 

In Montenegro the mountaineers call this sudden rush 
of feeling " having met one's fate," and this expresses 
such an event well indeed, for rare as such instances 
may be they have pretty nearly always a fateful end — 
nav, even a trao^ical one. 

.,'7 O 

Eudoiph had in his nature a vein of what in German 
is called schwdrmerei — a hidden source of poetical ideal- 
ity — and he was a most likely victim for a love which 
pertained rather to the soul than to the senses. A 
great deal of nonsense, and shameful nonsense at that, 
has been spoken and written about the immense and 
absorbing tenderness which united Eudoiph and Marie 
from the very first. Slander of the foulest and black- 

207 



? 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

est kind has not been spared to them, and even after 
their death the slimy tide of misinterpretation and 
calumny has kept rising about their graves, and has 
blurred their memory in its muddy ooze. 

The truth of the matter is, that love such as they 
/ felt for each other is too uncommon a thing not to 
arouse the ill-feeling and envy of the public, and that 
almost of necessity revenge is swift, and generally takes 
the shape of a wave of villanous inventions, of false re- 
ports, and of cruel lies, which it is impossible to refute 
because in such cases proof of the victim's innocence can 
seldom be given. 

The person who was, perhaps, most to blame in the 
whole lamentable course of this sorry affair was Count- 
ess George Larisch. She was the niece of Empress 
Elizabeth, whose elder brother had morganatically mar- 
ried an actress of the name of Henriette Mendel. The 
Countess, the only child of this union, was born in 1858, 
and when she had reached maidenhood, Elizabeth, 
touched by her beauty, and especially attracted by her 
perfect horsewomanship, took her up, and introduced 
her at the Viennese court under the name which had 
been granted to her mother upon the latter's marriage — 
namely, that of Baroness "Wallersee. Her aunt con- 
ferred upon her the title of Lady-of-the-Palace, and in 
tSX^ married her to Count George Larisch, who was then 
a good-natured, easy-going, young cavalry officer, not 
very bright but intensely kind-hearted, who belonged to 
an old family, and was endowed with more than a fair 
portion of this world's goods. The marriage took place 
at Godollo, and it was the Empress herself who gave the 
bride away. 

This very pretty and elegant woman was wont to 
designate herself as Rudi's favorite cousin, and I think, 

208 



THE MARTYRDOM OF x\N EMPRESS 

as many others have done, too, that she at first har- 

/ bored hopes of marrying him, although she was fully 
cognizant of the fact that being of non-royal birth, and 
for the matter of that the issue of a morganatic alliance, 
she had not the slightest chance of ever being allowed 
to wed the heir to the crown. Nevertheless she relied 
upon her imperial aunt's affection, and also upon the 
headstrong temper of Eudi, who she well knew would 
have been difiicult to dissuade from accomplishing any 
plan which had once entered his head. To that purpose 
she left no stone unturned in order to make herself as 
agreeable as possible to the Emperor, Empress, Crown- 
prince, and the two young Archduchesses whom she 
would have so much liked to call by the name of sisters. 
Eudolph's marriage being one day freely discussed in 
her presence, she put out a few feelers, and old Arch- 
duke Albrecht, who was present, discovering with his 
usual sagacity the quarter from which the wind blew, 
stated to her in clear and definite language that the 
Crown - prince of Austria would never be permitted by 
his family nor by the imperial and roj^al constitution to 
marry any other than a royal or an imperial princess. 

s/ The young Baroness realized that the aged Archduke 
was speaking the absolute truth, and, subsequently, in a 
moment of pique, she accepted the hand of Count Larisch 

y and became one of the gayest mondaines of the gayest 
court of Europe. 
When some three years later Eudolpb married Ste- 

\ phanie, the Crown-princess became Countess Larisch's 
hete- noire, and the Countess's behavior towards her 
cousin's bride in public, and the sarcasms and ridicule 
wath which she covered her in private, were not of a 
nature to make Eudolph look upon his consort with a 
very indulgent gaze. Instead of trying to palliate the 
o 209 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

wrongs done to him by his wife, Countess Larisch kept 
pouring oil on the flames, and was continually on the 
lookout for an occasion to revenge herself upon the 
woman who certainly offered reason enough for dislike, 
but whose only crime against her was, after all, in hav- 
ing married the man whom she herself loved, or pre- 
tended to love — which, as far as the ultimate result is 
concerned, comes absolutely to the same thing. Quick 
as a flash of lightning the Countess, who unluckily 
happened to be also present at the Polish ball where 
Rudolph made the acquaintance of Marie Yetsera, 
noticed what an impression the girl's beauty and wit had 
made upon Eudolph's saddened and weary heart. See- 
ing at last within her grasp the means of paying off 
old scores, she at once made up her mind to throw the 
two young people together as much as possible. She 
lost no time in making the acquaintance of Baroness 
Yetsera, and from that day on she managed with ex- 
treme cleverness to bring it about that every time that 
Rudolph called upon her he should encounter at her 
house the girl whom he was learning to love more and 
more passionately every day. 

That the moral principles of Countess Larisch were 
not of the highest order has been since then unques- 
tionably proved by the fact that a few years ago she 
abandoned her kind and long-suffering husband, as well 
as her beautiful little children, for the sake of an opera- 
singer of the name of Bruck, whom she proceeded to 
marr}^ as soon as the Count had obtained a divorce from 
her, and with whom she is now living somewhere in 
Germany. 

The love of Rudolph and Marie might possibly have 
remained a secret from Stephanie, for they never met in 
private, and he was very careful that not a breath of 

210 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

scandal should have any reason to touch the girl he 
worshipped, had it not been for the Countess, who never 
rested until she had by her many hints and innuendoes 
made it clear to the Crown-princess that Eudolph had 
at last fallen in love in good earnest, and designated to 
her kind notice the possessor of her husband's heart. 
This took place shortly before Queen Victoria's jubilee 
festivities in 1887, festivities at which the Crown-prince 
and Crown -princess of Austria were to represent Em- 
peror Franz- Joseph and Empress Elizabeth. 

Two or three weeks before the date appointed for 
the departure of Eudolph and Stephanie for London, 
Marie Yetsera was called to England, where her sister 
lay ill. This was a mere coincidence, but presented to 
the Crown-princess by the cruelly sarcastic tongue of 
Countess Larisch, the fact took the proportions of a pur- 
posely made appointment, arranged by the lovers, with 
a view of being able to meet on a foreign soil with an 
ease which was not to be found within the limits of 
the Austrian empire. Upon hearing of this the Crown- 
princess at the very last moment stubbornly refused to 
accompany her husband, wounding the feelings of the 
aged British Queen almost be3^ond pardon by her curt 
denial, and offending almost as much the Emperor and 
Empress, not to speak of her own father and mother. 
King Leopold and Queen Henrietta of Belgium, who 
were among the Jubilee guests. 

It is useless to record here the really atrocious scene 
which took place between Eudolph and Stephanie on 
that occasion. The Crown-princess forgot herself so 
far as to use when speaking of Marie Yetsera some epi- 
thets which befitted neither her sex nor her exalted 
rank, and which, when applied to the woman he loved, 
Eudolph could not let pass without resenting in the 

211 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

angriest fashion possible. He then and there declared 
to his consort that he was throuo^h with her, and that 

^ he would never forgive what she had said. With this 
declaration of war he took his departure for England, 
while Stephanie, for once frightened wellnigh out of her 
wits, left Vienna to spend the time of his absence away 
from all observing eyes. 

That Rudolph met Marie Yetsera and her mother in 

yj London, and called upon them several times, is quite 
certain, but what plans were decided upon by the two 
young people it is impossible to state. Let it suffice 
to say that some time after his return to Austria the 
Crown-prince sent a private and confidential letter to 
our Holy Father, the Pope, entreating him to dissolve 
his marriage, and to use his influence with the Emperor 
to obtain the latter's sanction to Rudolph's renouncing 
all his rights of succession to the throne, and retreating 

, altogether from the public gaze. This letter was sent 
to Rome by a special and trusty messenger, who was to 
bring back his Holiness's answer thereto. Almost im- 
mediately upon the reception of this document Leo XIIL 
despatched one of his own confidential couriers to Em- 
peror Franz- Joseph, enclosing in a letter of his own to 
the Emperor the one which the Crown-prince had written. 
It is impossible to depict the horror and amazement 
of the unhappy father when he received this quite un- 
expected blow, for although he was aware that the 
relations between his son and his daughter-in-law were 
much strained, yet he had no idea that this state of 
affairs had gone so far as to bring about such a decision 
on Rudolph's part; moreover, he knew Rudolph too 
well not to realize that some really terrible thing must 
have happened to cause him to take such a step with- 
out even mentioning it to him. 

213 




AKCHDUKE KAKL-LUDWIG, BROTHER OF THE EMPEROR 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

He at once summoned Archduke Albrecht, his uncle, 
his brother, Archduke Charles - Louis, and the Prince- 
Archbishop of Yienna, wishing to communicate to Eu- 
dolph the Holy Father's letter in their presence. 

The interview which followed is wellnigh indescriba- 
ble. Rudolph, much moved by the deep grief of his 
father, to whom he was extremely attached, fell at his 
feet and craved his pardon for being its cause, but at 
the same time refused to give any explanation of his 
conduct in the presence of witnesses, and it was only 
later on, when the Emperor had retired to his private 
apartments for the night, that the Crown-prince was 
induced bv him to make a clean breast of the whole 
matter. 

Here we reach a point in this terrible affair which is 
of so delicate a nature that one positively recoils before 
the almost impossible task of explaining it. There are 
in this world some terrible fatalities, and many in- 
stances in which the words of the Scripture, which say 
that ^' the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the 
children," come true in a reall}^ ghastly fashion. The 
stormy conversation which took place between the Em- 
peror and his only and much-beloved son was witnessed 
by none, and yet there exist to-day several people who 
know how awful was the discovery made by both of 
them on that never-to-be-forgotten night, when Rudolph 
confessed to his father his love for Marie Yetsera, and 
his intention of giving up his entire future, his lofty 
rank, and his unequalled position in order to marry her ! 

When at dawn the Crown-prince staggered out from 
his father's presence, his face was gray and drawn and 
haggard, like that of a corpse, and in his eyes, which 
glittered with the burning light of fever, there was a 
look of harsh resolve which betrayed not only the fact 

213 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

that he was a desperate man, but also that he had left 
behind him all hope of the realization of his most ardent 
desires. 

As to the Emperor, when his valet entered his room 
at the usual hour he found his imperial master bowing 
low over his desk, with his head pillowed upon his 
folded arms. The Emperor was fully dressed in the 
uniform which he had worn on the previous evening, 
and the servant, thinking that perchance his master 
had fallen asleep while writing, permitted himself to 
touch him lightly on the shoulder. What was his 
fright and amazement when he discovered that Franz- 
Joseph, this man of iron, who never knew a day's sick- 
ness, was in a dead faint ! Realizing with the quick in- 
tuition of a thoroughly loyal servitor that the Emperor 
would wish his condition kept secret if possible, the 
valet forbore from summoning help, but applied resto- 
ratives himself, and when the Emperor had recovered 
consciousness tactfully avoided betraying by look or 
sign his own curiosity as to what might have brought 
about so curious and unparalleled an incident. 

During the course of the morning the Emperor sent 
for his son, but was informed that his imperial highness 
the Crown-prince had started early for Mayerling ac- 
companied only b}^ his body-servant Loschek, and that 
he had left word to the effect that he intended to spend 
two or three days there, in the company of his brother- 
in-law. Prince Phillip von Coburg, and of Count Joseph 
Hoyos, who were as a rule his favorite hunting com- 
panions. 

On the 30th of January, 1889, Europe was startled 
and terrified through its length and breadth by the news, 
flashed over the wires from Vienna, that Crown-prince 
Eudolph had died suddenly from the rupture of an 

214 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

aneurism of the heart, at his hunting-lodge of Mayer- 
ling. The official Viennese organ, Die Offizielle Wiener 
Zeitung, of January the 31st, contained on its first 
page, surrounded by a deep black border, the following 
announcement : 

*' Seine Kaiserliche und Konigliche Hoheit der Durclilauchtiste Kron- 
prinz-Erzherzog Rudolf ist gestern am 30 Januar in Seinen Jagd- 
scJilosse in Mayerling, hei Baden, am Herzschlag plotzlich verschieden." 

(His Royal and Imperial Highness, Crown - prince Archduke Ru- 
dolph, died yesterday, January 30th, at his hunting-lodge of Mayer- 
ling, near Baden, from the rupture of an aneurism of the heart.) 

It would have been truer if the paper had contented 
itself with declaring that Rudolph had died of a broken 
heart, for a broken heart it was which led to his violent 
and untimely death. 

Later on, during the course of the day, the most con- 
tradictory reports appeared in print. Some of these de- 
clared that the Crown -prince had succumbed to the 
effects of a shooting accident, others that he had died 
of congestion of the lungs; others again hinted in a 
very guarded but still fully understandable fashion that 
he had fallen in a duel. 

On the following day nothing at all was printed save 
a simple statement emanating from the highest quarters 
and declaring that the heir apparent had died suddenly 
at his castle of Mayerling, and giving out the usual regu- 
lations for court mourning. 

A great many foreign journalists, requested by their 
newspapers to find out all that they could about this 
disastrous event, drove immediately to Mayerling, but 
found it impossible to penetrate farther than the outer 
gates of the park surrounding the schloss. 

The neighborhood is known as " The Pearl of the 
Wiener-Wald." It is exceedingly romantic, dotted with 

215 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the picturesque ruins of ancient castles, of churches, of 
monasteries, and of convents. The most remarkable 
and interesting monastery in the region is Heiligen- 
kreutz, which is one of the oldest in Austria. It was 
founded in 1336 by Margrave Leopold, and in the 
chapter - house is the vault of the Babenbergs. The 
building is beautiful, and exquisitely carved in a lace- 
like pattern of pinkish-gray granite; and an old well, 
which is always shown to visitors, is of so curious a 
workmanship that it is said not to have its like in 
the entire world. The treasure - chamber and library 
— containing over twenty thousand volumes — are also 
great attractions, and so are the superb stained-glass 
windows of the chapel. In a word, Heiligenkreutz is 
indeed very justly celebrated, for it is one of the most 
perfect relics left of the poetical times of long ago. 

It was the Crown - prince's delight to spend hours 
V there, poring over the black - letter records and rolls of 
quaint old parchments in the Archive Hall, fingering 
with a feeling akin to awe the handiwork of the learned 
monks, whose bones have been crumbling away for cen- 
turies under the stone pavement of the cross -shaped 
cloisters. 

The surrounding forest is, if one is to believe the old- 
est inhabitants, as well as the written statements left by 
, preceding generations, haunted by a wild huntsman and 
V a white lady who are, it appears, in the habit of gallop- 
ing at night on shadowy horses under the interlaced 
branches of the magnificent trees. A narrow road over- 
hung with evergreens leads towards the Castle of May- 
erling, which also was once a monastery belonging to 
the monks of Heiligenkreutz. 

On January the 30th, this beautiful place became 
transformed into the saddest and most melancholy spot 

216 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

upon earth. Snow was falling heavily, and throwing a 
cloak of blinding whiteness upon the entire landscape. 
The sky, of a gray copper hue, seemed to touch the sum- 
mits of the trees, and no noise was anywhere to be heard 
save the dismal croaking of those eternally ill-omened 
ravens ; no figure was to be seen excepting the cordon 
of gendarmes which surrounded the entire extent of the 
park, and stood motionless, carbine in hand, to prevent 
any intruder from penetrating within the circle of the 
private grounds. The shutters were closed throughout 
the entire castle, and at the door stood an ofl&cer of police 
with his sword drawn. 

On January 31st, just as the gray, bleak, cold day 
was coming to an end, the door opened, and the gleam 
of many blessed candles cast a red glow upon the snow 
without. Presently some servants, clad in deepest 
black and holding torches in their hands, stepped out, 
preceding the Prince of Coburg and Count Hoy 6s, who 
stood for a few moments on the steps until a perfectly 
plain, black-painted yb^^r^<97^, drawn by two black horses, 
drew up before the portal. 

All present were bareheaded, and shivered in the 
freezing wind which moaned among the snow -laden 
trees. After a minute or so, six huntsmen belonging to 
the Crown-prince's service appeared, carrjang between 
them the long, narrow black coffin, absolutely unorna- 
mented, which contained the last remains of the man — 
young, athletic, strong, and buoyant — who but a few 
hours previously was the hope and the joy of one of the 
greatest empires of this earth. 

Is ot a voice was raised, the necessary orders were 
given in whispers, the coffin was placed in the terrible 
fourgon, and the horses at last started at a foot-pace, 
while the Prince, the Count, and two or three officials 

217 



V 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

sent by the Emperor, seated themselves in the three 
carriages which completed the dismal procession, and 
followed the fourgo7i out of the gates and into the dark- 
ness which had now gathered, and which made the nar- 
row mountain-roads very dangerous to traverse. Sud- 
denly the Prince of Coburg opened the window of his 
carriage, and called out to the man who drove the four- 
gon : 

" For God's sake trot, for we shall all go crazy to- 
gether if w^e don't soon get away from this !" 

On they rolled into the night at a quicker pace, until 
they had left behind them the dense woods and had 
reached the high-road which leads to Baden. Once 
there, occasionally a cart driven by some peasant met 
them, and little thinking that this funeral cortege was 
that of Austria's Crown-prince, the driver called out in 
the peculiar drawl of the yokel: "7^' wer g^storhenf^ 
(Is somebody dead?) Finally the small town of Ba- 
den was reached, and the coffin with its escort was 
transferred to a special train which was awaiting their 
arrival. 

The night was almost over when the body of the 
Crown -prince was borne into his private apartments 
at the Hofburg. The temporary coffin was opened and 
the corpse laid on the bed, and then it was that the Em- 
peror and Empress were brought face to face with the 
full horrors of the awful death of their only son. 

There are but few who know how the ill-fated Prince 
really met with his end. So much has been written and 
said about it that was thoroughly untrue, and so much 
kept back, rather imprudently, which it would have been 
better to state frankly, that justice has never been done 
to the motives which led this plucky, courageous, hon- 
orable, and also sincerely religious young man to give 
' *^" 218 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

himself to death. It was rumored at the time, and it 
also has been declared since, that before committing an 
act so severely condemned by the Catholic Church he 
had actually killed with his own hand the woman whom 
he loved better than life. This is tJioroicghly and shame- 
fully untrue. Marie Yetsera died during the night of 
the 29th to the 30th of January, 1889, and she did die 
in the arms of the Crown-prince, but it was not he, as 
everybody persists in believing, who killed her. It has 
been authentically proved that it was she herself who 
cut short her fair and beautiful existence while Rudi 
had absented himself for a moment from the salon 
where they had been talking together. 

Early in the morning of January 29th, Marie Yetsera 
received a letter. She was at that moment sittinn: in 
her dressing-room, and putting the finishing touches to 
her toilet. Her maid and her sister, who were present, 
noticed that as she perused the contents of the letter, 
which had been brought by a special messenger, she 
turned ghastly pale and shook like a leaf, but when 
asked what was the cause of her emotion, she refused 
to give any explanation, and tearing the letter into 
small pieces she threw them into the open fire, and 
watched them until they had been completely reduced 
to ashes. Shortly afterwards she complained of a head- 
ache, and said that she would go for a short walk in 
order to see whether fresh air would not do her good. 
Dressed in a simple, dark serge skirt, a jacket, cap, and 
muff of sombre fur, and with a small bunch of violets 
fastened at her breast, she left her mother's house and 
walked down the Ringstrasse until she reached a cele- 
brated florist's shop, which she habitually patronized. 
There she purchased another and much larger bunch of 
violets, and on leaving the shop stepped into an unume- 

219 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

rierter — one of those private cabs which a great many 
of the Yiennese aristocrats use for their morning drives 
— which had stopped in front of the florist's as soon 
as she entered the shop. The horses trotted off at a 
sharp pace, and the shopwoman who had waited upon 
Marie, and had accompanied her to the door, said, as 
she returned to her counter : 

" Well, that's funny ! If I am not mistaken, the baron- 
ess has driven off in Crown-prince Kudolph's private 
cab, driven by Bratfisch himself." 

Bratfisch, the Crown-prince's fiacre, was a well-known 
character in Vienna. He was the typical personifica- 
tion of those children of the Kaiser-stadt, who are per- 
haps the most entertaining and thoroughly original be- 
ings in existence. He was absolutely devoted to his 
imperial master, who used to laugh very heartily at his 
extraordinary antics, as well as at the stories which he 
knew how to relate with amazing gusto about the 
people whom he had driven during the course of his 
life — stories that Kudolph, in his genial, careless man- 
ner, often caused him to tell. 

Bratfisch had received orders to await a lady carry- 
ing a bunch of violets in her hand before the above- 
mentioned florist's, and then to drive her as rapidly as 
possible to Mayerling. When she arrived at the hunt- 
ing-lodge she was met on the steps by Eudolph, who, 
taking her hand in his, drew her into the salon, into 
which his private apartments opened, and carefully 
closed the door. 

Count Hoyos and the Prince of Coburg were out 
shooting in the woods, whither the Crown-prince had 
refused to accompany them, pleading that he had a 
bad cold. Just before the arrival of Marie the Crown- 
prince had sent off a telegram, written in Hungarian, to 

220 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

his father at the Hofburg, telling him that he was not 
feeling well enough to be present at the family dinner 
which was to be given, that evening in honor of Arch- 
duchess Marie- Yalerie and her fiance, Archduke Fran- 
cis-Sal vat or. The telegram ran as follows : 

*' To Eis Majesty the Emjjeivr, in Vienna : /^ . 

"Forgive my not appearing, as I am not feeling well ; it is nothing / A^' 
serious, however. Love to my mother and to all. 

"Rudolph." 

{Engedelmet kyrek, ha lem gyuvek. Keveset beteg vagyok. Tisztelema 
foeherzepne, etc.) 

Whatever the conversation may have been between 
the two unfortunate young people on that dark and 
dismal afternoon in the little salon of Schloss-Mayerling 
can better be imagined than described. The awful dis- 
closure which the young man made to her was truly of 
a nature to unbalance the steadiest brain, and Loschek, 
y/ the valet, said later on that he had heard, when passing 
the door, on different occasions, the muffled sound of 
violent sobbing. 

During the preceding few weeks Marie had been ex- 
cessively melancholy, and had several times alluded, in 
the presence of her family and friends, to her wish to die 
young if she could not obtain her heart's most ardent 
desires, but what those were she did not say ! Indeed, 
a gentleman who had known her from a child, and who 
was a constant visitor at the Yetsera mansion, remem- 
bered that on one occasion she had told him half-laugh- 
ingly that, thanks to the strain of Oriental blood which 
flowed in her veins, she had no fear whatsoever of 
death, even if self-inflicted, and that she was always pro- 
vided with the means of putting a swift and painless end 
to her existence, if ever it became too distasteful to her. 

221 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

The gentleman in question, taking this in the spirit of a 
spoiled child's loutade^ gave it but scant attention, 
until subsequent events forced him to recall to mind 
the conversation which he had had with her on the 
subject. 

y When Count Hoyos and Prince von Coburg returned 
to the castle for dinner, they found that the Crown- 
prince had already retired, leaving a message to the 
effect that he felt too ill to appear at the evening meal, 
from which he begged to be excused. There was no 
sign of Bratfisch, nor, of course, of Marie Yetsera, and 
Loschek having been the only one to witness her ar- 
rival, the two noblemen were not informed that a lady 
had come to Mayerling on that day. They sat for a 
while over their wine and cigars, and then, thoroughly 

^- tired out by their day's sport, they went to bed, and 
absolute silence reigned over the entire building. 

At five o'clock in the morning the huntsmen be- 
gan to move about in the yard ; the grooms opened the 
stable doors and started upon their day's work, casting 
an occasional glance upon the shuttered windows 
of the castle, for they knew well that, like his fa- 
ther, the Crown -prince was an early riser, and that, 
therefore, he would probably soon appear at one of the 
casements, as was his wont, to call out some orders to 
them. 

Loschek also was up and preparing his imperial mas- 

^' ter's bath in the dressing-room adjoining the Crown- 
prince's sleeping - apartment. Several times he ap- 
proached the door, expecting to hear himself called, but 
the silence remained untroubled, and as hour after hour 
slowly passed the man began to feel sorely worried. 
He had been sent by Kudolph on the previous evening 
on an errand to Baden, and did not know if, or when, 

222 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the Baroness Yetsera had left Mayerling. Finally, 
anxious beyond endurance, he tried to turn the knob 
of the door, but much to his astonishment found that it 
was fastened on the inside, this being entirely against 
the Archduke's usual custom. For a few moments he 
stood motionless and then knocked twice rapidly on the 
oaken panel. Receiving no answer he fled down to 

/ the dining-room, where the Prince of Coburg and Count 
Ho3^6s were waiting for their breakfast. Trembling in 
every limb, Loschek confusedly tried to explain to them 
that something must have happened to the Crown- 
prince, intermixing his incoherent statements with allu- 
sions to the visit of Marie Yetsera, which were, of course, 
absolutely unintelligible to his amazed hearers. Gather- 
ing, however, from what he said that something very 
much out of the ordinary had occurred, the Prince and 
the Count, followed by the terrified Loschek, ran up- 
stairs three steps at a time, and in their turn began an 
assault upon the door, which, when they obtained no 
sign of life from within, ended in their bursting it 
open. 

The scene which met their gaze was of a nature to 
strike the most self-contained person with horror. On 
the lounge near the window lay the body of Marie 
Yetsera, still dressed in her dark serge gown, but with 
all the violets of her two bouquets scattered about her. 
Her white face, outlined against the crimson silk of the 
cushion upon which her head was resting, seemed cut 

. out of marble. Half leaning against her shoulder, half 
upon the floor, lay the Crown-prince, his hunting-suit 
drenched with blood, and his lifeless hand still grasp- 
ing a heavy cavalry revolver. Crazed with grief and 
amazement, the three men bent over Rudolph to see 
whether life was really quite extinct. One look at the 

233 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

shattered skull, however, sufficed to show them that all 
hope had fled. Prince von Coburg, stepping back with 
an exclamation of dismay, trod upon something which 
^ he mechanically picked up. It was a small empty bot- 
V tie of brown crystal, which was labelled " strychnia." 
Mechanically also he placed it on a neighboring table, 
and with the help of his two companions lifted the form 
of the Crown-prince from the ground and laid it upon 
the bed. Then they all hurried from the room, and 
closing the door after them, walked down-stairs, feeling 
as numb and unnerved as if they were just awakening 
from some dreadful nightmare. 

When they had had sufficient time to recover their 
senses to some extent, Prince Phillip ordered the entire 
household to be brought before him, and making them 
take, each separately, an oath of absolute secrecy, he 
gave directions that the entran.ce to the castle and to 
the castle grounds should be denied to everybody with- 
out distinction of sex or rank. 

Before starting for Vienna, where the Prince was 
sending him to carry the terrible news to the unfortu- 
nate parents of the dead man, Count Hoyos decided 
that it would behest to enter the death -room once 
more in order to make certain that the Crown-prince 
had not left behind him some letter or writing of some 
kind which would throw light upon the situation. This 
second examination of the premises brought about the 
discovery of four letters, lyi^g upon the table which 
stood at the head of the bed, addressed respectively to 
the Emperor, the Empress, Divisional Superintendent 
Szoegyenyi, and the Duke of Braganza, a very dear 
friend of Rudolph's, beside which lay a crumpled piece 
of paper, whereon were written, in Marie Yetsera's 
hand, the following words : 

224 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

"Dear Mother, — I am going to die for Rudolph ; we love each 
other too deeply to endure existence apart from each other, and a cruel 
fate which nothing can alter has made it impossible that we should ever 
belong to each other. He has had to give his father his word of 
honor that he would never see me again. There are circumstances 
which prevent our union, circumstances which I can discuss least of 
all with you. I am happier to die than to live. Forgive me. 

" Tour unhappy Marie." 

This note, written with a pencil and evidently in a 
great hurry, was blistered with tears. The letter ad- 
dressed by Kudolph to the Duke of Braganza, unlike 
those addressed to the Emperor and Empress, was un- 
sealed, and contained these few words : 

" Dear Friend, — I must die. In honor lean do nothing else. Good- 
bye. The blessing of God be with you. Rudolph." 

To Divisional Superintendent Szoegyenyi, the Crown- 
prince wrote : 

"Dear Szoegyenyi, — You will find herein enclosed a codicil act 
in accordance with my last will and testament made two years ago. 
You will find in my study at the Hofburg most of my papers, and I 
leave it to your discretion to decide which of them seem fit for publi- 
cation. These papers are locked up in the drawer of the table which 
stands near the sofa, and so I also enclose the little golden key where- 
with to open it. When you receive these few lines I shall be no 
more. / must die. Give my most affectionate remembrance to all 
my friends. May God bless our beloved country. Rudolph. " 

The Count, putting all these various documents in his 
pocket-book, drove furiously to the station at Baden, 
where he jumped into the first train he could catch for 
Vienna, and before mid-day he had reached the Hof- 
burg, where his appearance in hunting-dress, and with 
a face perfectly death-like in its awful pallor, struck 
with amazement all those who met him during his rapid 
progress to the door of the Empress's apartments, 
p 225 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

General - Adjutant Count Paar, who was on duty at 
that moment, undertook to lead the Count immediately 
to the Empress. 

She was sitting at her writing-table, which was sur- 
mounted by a large portrait of the Crown -prince in 
hunting-suit — just such a costume as that in which he 
was clad when his stiffening corpse had been found that 
very morning by the man who now stood shaking from 
head to foot and hardly able to control the violence of 
his emotions before this poor mother, as yet ignorant of 
the crushing blow which had befallen her. 

The Empress, at this sudden and incomprehensible in- 
trusion into her privacy, and after a quick glance at the 
convulsed features of both gentlemen, started to her 
feet and, pressing her hand to her side, exclaimed, in a 
short, peremptory fashion not habitual to her : 

" What is it ? What has happened ? Something is 
the matter with Eudi. Tell me at once !" 

Her features had all at once become drawn and as 
colorless as the white morning-gown which she wore. 
Count Hoy OS, who would have given all he possessed to 
be miles away, was forced to relate as best he could 
the main points of the tragedy which he had come to 
reveal. 

Standing upright before him, her blue eyes frightfully 
dilated by a fixed expression of indescribable horror, 
Elizabeth swayed for a second as if she were going to 
fall; then straightening herself again, without a tear, 
but with a kind of dry, gasping sob choking her utter- 
ance, she murmured; 

'' The Emperor — don't tell him ; it must be I who break 
it to him. Wait for me here ; do not say a word to any 
one ; I will be back !" and swiftly, almost running, she 
left her room and rushed towards her husband's study, 

236 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

where she knew that he would then be at work upon 
the affairs of the State. As she opened the door and 
entered the spacious apartment where the Sovereign 
was employed in signing papers, handed to him one by 
one by his aides-de-camp, she said, shortly : 

" Franz, I must speak to you alone." 

With a wave of the hand the Emperor dismissed his 
aides, and the imperial couple were left alone together. 

Half an hour later, Count Paar and Count Hoyos, 
who were discussing in an awed whisper the dreadful 
drama of Mayerling, saw Franz-Joseph enter the room, 
his eyes swollen with weeping, and his whole counte- 
nance quivering with distress. With him was the Em- 
press, just as pale, just as calm, and just as self-possessed 
as she had been when she left them. She drew a chair 
forward for the Emperor and gently motioned him tow- 
ards it, taking hold of his hand and mutely caressing 
it, while he sat down upon the proffered seat with a 
broken exclamation of : 

" So it is true — really true !" 

Again the stalwart man broke down, and sobbed con- 
vulsively, the Empress bending over him and soothing 
and consoling him as if he were a child in pain. 

Ah yes ! he might well send his celebrated message 
to the people of Yienna a few days later, when thank- 
ing them, for the sympathy which they had shown to 
him in his troubles — a message which ran as follows : 

"Tell my people that it is thanks to the courage and devotion of 
that noble woman, the Empress, that I have not given way to abso- 
lute despair." 

Meanwhile Crown-princess Stephanie was sitting at 
her piano playing some new melodies which had been 
sent to her that morning. She wore a pink crepon 

227 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

peignoir, much adorned with lace, and on her light hair 
a coquettish little combination of ribbons and lace. So 
loud was her playing that she did not hear the door 
open, and was very much startled when, without any 

^ warning, her husband's father and mother stood before 
her. She was not used to such visits, for especially 
during the last few days she had clearly noticed how 
distasteful her society seemed to be to both the Emperor 
and Empress. Kealizing that something extraordinary 
had happened, and not being very easy in her own con- 
science, she turned to her father-in-law and said, breath- 
lessly, as if she had just been running hard : " Is Kudolph 
really ill? Have you bad news?'* 

The Emperor replied, in a trembling voice : " Yes, we 
have bad news. Yery bad news." 

The Crown-princess recoiled a few steps, and with an 
awful scream, which rang throughout that entire wing 

V^ of the palace, she fell headlong at the Empress's feet, 
her face touching the carpet, shrieking out in a wild, 
almost unearthly fashion : " He is dead, and it is I who 
have killed him !" 

yj- She became so violently hysterical that it was only 
with the greatest trouble that the Emperor and Em- 
press could hold her down upon the sofa whereon they 
had laid her. At last her moans and sobs subsided, and 
she asked for explanations, declaring that she would 
start at once for Mayerling. 

" It is impossible that you should go there," said the 
^1 Empress, sternly. " You are not in a fit condition to 
undertake anything of the kind. I will send for your 
physicians, and you will go and lie down until you have 
somewhat recovered your strength." Then turning to 
her husband, Elizabeth said, softly : 

" Leave her with me, Franz ; you have gone through 

228 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

too much already. All this additional agitation is very 
bad for you." 

" And you — what about you ?" he answered, clasping 
her hands in a passionate grasp. 

" It will be time for me to give way later," she re- 
plied, drawing him towards the door and out of the 
room. " I have other things to think of just now." 

Indeed, when she did ^' find time to think of herself " 
she fell into a fainting fit, which resembled death so 
closely that two hours elapsed before the physicians 
in attendance upon her were able to pronounce as to 
whether she would ever recover consciousness or not. 

The impression caused at Vienna and throughout 
the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire by the astounding 
news of the Crown-prince's death is quite indescribable. 
The streets were filled to overflowing with crowds of 
sobbing people, and the newspaper offices were on the 
point of being taken by storm by the populace when it 
was found that no details about the heir apparent's 
death were to be published. Thanks to the sagacious 
intervention of Duchess Ludovica in Bavaria, Empress 
Elizabeth's mother, the Emperor was brought to under- 
stand that it was absolute folly to try to conceal any 
longer from the public the fact that Rudolph had com- 
mitted suicide. Duchess Ludovica was, as I have had 
occasion to say ere this, a very remarkable woman, and 
the Emperor, who is no mean judge of character, had 
the highest opinion of his mother-in-law's acumen, and 
was only too glad to lean upon her and to take her 
advice in this as in many other matters at that critical 
period of his existence. 

Special editions of the official newspaper appeared 
therefore heavily bordered with black, and stating that 
in a moment of temporary aberration Crown -prince 

229 



THE MAETYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Archduke Eudolph of Austro- Hungary bad taken his 
own life. There was also a manifesto, which was 
v/ signed by the Emperor, printed beneath this announce- 
ment, and couched in the following words : 

"^<? my People: 

"Deeply moved by a sorrow too profound for words, I humbly 
bow before the inscrutable decrees of a Providence which has chosen 
to afflict myself and my people, and I pray Almighty God to grant 
to us all the courage to bear the load of our irreparable loss," etc. 

A special train was sent on the 30th of January to 
Baden, conveying the doctors and surgeons who were 
intrusted with the autopsy of the Crown-prince. Among 
these were Doctors Widerhofer, Hoffman, and Kundrat. 
The protocol of this autopsy states that Crown-prince 
Rudolph's death "was caused by a fracture of the 
frontal bone produced by the bullet of a large-calibre 
revolver, discharged at short range, the projectile pene- 
trating the brain and passing out of the skull at the 
base of the cerebrum." 

While this was taking place, and while so many were 
thinking, to the exclusion of everything else, about the 
dead Prince, what had become of the young girl whose 
V self-inflicted death had determined him to kill himself 
while she was still near to him ? By the care of Count 
Bombelles, the Crown -prince's tutor and best friend, 
who had been sent immediately by the Emperor to 
take charge of everything at Mayerling, the fair body 
of Marie Yetsera was concealed in a room which Count 
\ Bombelles himself locked with his own hands. 

On the night of the 31st of January a small postern- 
door in the northern wing of the castle was stealthily 
opened, and another black, unadorned coffin was car- 
ried by four trustworthy attendants into the depths 

330 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

of the woods, where another foicrgon awaited it. It 
was conveyed as secretly as possible to the chapel of 
Heiligenkreutz, and from there, twenty-four hours later, 
to a distant railway station, where it was embarked for 
Trieste, and taken thence to Yenice. It was only then 
that " Baronin " Yetsera, the mother of Marie, and the 
Baltazzi family announced publicly the death of the 
young girl, and had her remains formally brought from 
Yenice to Pardubitz, where the family vault is situated. 

Of course it goes without saying that the secret was 
not absolutely preserved, and that soon a loud rumor 
arose to the effect that Marie Yetsera had not died in 
Yenice, but at Mayerling, and that she had been shot 
by the Crown - prince. This has been more than dis- 
Y proved by the autopsy performed upon Marie, which 
revealed the fact that she had died from strychnine 
poisoning, and that her death had preceded that of the 
Crown-prince by more than two hours. 

Could anything have been more dreadful than the de- 
spair of the unfortunate young man when, after having 
disclosed to his beloved the true reason which made it 
impossible for him to fulfil his promise of marrying her 
as soon as he had succeeded in obtaining the dissolution 
of his union, he found that she had swallowed the dead- 
ly drug which she had brought with her ? When, a few 
minutes later^ she breathed her last in his arms, no won- 
der indeed that, seeing his honor jeopardized, his hopes 
dashed to the earth, and his entire existence ruined, he 
should have decided to end his own career without any 
further delay ! 

The crumpled letter which Marie had written to her 
mother was not the only one of the sort found, for when 
her dress was removed another sheet of paper, evident- 
ly torn out of a book, was discovered secreted in the 

331 



>i 



/ 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

corsage. It was intended for her sister, and I give 
here a copy of it : 

" He has told me all. I cannot tell you what Tie did tell me. I can 
never be liis now. I am alone for a moment, while he has gone down 
to send away Bratfisch. I knew that something dreadful would 
happen to prevent our being happy, so I brought the poison with me, 
and I am going to drink it. When he returns it will be too late to 
save me, and I will die in his arms, happy to be with him till the 
last. Forgive me and love me, pray for me, and take care of our 
poor mother. She will feel this more than you can think or know." 

The Yetsera family left on February 3d for Italy, 
while the court, immediately after the Crown -prince's 
funeral, abandoned Vienna for Budapesth. 

Before leaving his Austrian capital the Emperor took 
all necessary steps to insure the absence from Austria 
of all those who had been directly concerned with this 
fearful affair. Countess Larisch, in high disgrace, went 
to travel abroad; Count Hoyos and the Prince of Co- 
burg both left the country ; and as to Bratfisch and 
Loscbek, who had been provided with the means to 
live in idleness for the rest of their days if so they 
chose, they disappeared completely from view. 

It was a long time before the Emperor could forgive 
or forget the unguarded words pronounced by Prince 
Phillip of Coburg, who when speaking to several eager 
auditors said : 

''Do not ask me how this awful catastrophe hap- 
pened. We are forced to draw a veil over such doings. 
It is sad enough that it should have happened! For 
Heaven's sake, do not ask why it did." 



CHAPTER XII 

The first anniversary of the Crown-prince's death was 
celebrated with much solemnity throughout Austria and 
Hungary by the people. But the clergy in quite a num- 
ber of places created a painful impression by refusing 
to perform the Seelen-Messe, or Bout de VAn mass, in 
consequence of the circumstances connected with the 
Prince's death. The most glaring instance of this utter 
absence of charity was at Botzen, in the Tyrol, where 
the widowed Crown-princess was staying. Having sent 
to request the dean of the cathedral to celebrate the 
customary mass for the repose of her husband's soul, he 
curtly declined either to perform it himself or to permit 
it to take place in the cathedral. The ceremony, there- 
fore, was performed in the parish church of Gries, a 
little village in the neighborhood of Botzen. 

Much disagreeable comment was caused by the failure 
of Stephanie to return to Vienna upon the sad anniver- 
sary, in order that she might accompany the Emperor, 
the Empress, and Archduchess Valerie to Mayerling for 
" the purpose of "being present with them at the ceremony 
of the consecration of the chapel erected on the spot 
where her husband met his death. It was positively 
expected that she would have made a point of spending 
the day with her little daughter, and that she would 
have followed their majesties' example in passing a few 
moments in prayer at the Archduke's tomb in the vaults 
of the Capuchin church at Vienna. But she very un- 

233 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

/ wisely absented herself, an act which gave great pain to 
all those who so dearly loved the dead Prince. 

The visit of the Emperor and Empress with Arch- 
duchess Yalerie to Mayerling on the 30th of January, 
just a year after the frightful death of poor Rudi, 
was marked by several exceedingly pathetic incidents. 
The scene at the railway terminus, when starting on 
their pilgrimage to the fatal spot, was pitiful in the ex- 
treme. The Emperor had offered his right arm to his 
consort, and with his left hand he was gently stroking 
the small black-gloved hand that rested upon his sleeve, 
as he bent slightly towards her, murmuring words of 
consolation. Archduchess Yalerie followed close be- 
hind. The two ladies were attired in the deepest mourn- 
ing, and were weeping bitterly. On reaching the chapel 

v^ which had been erected on the scene of the tragedy, a 
mass was performed by the abbot, Baron von Grimmen- 
stein, assisted by Court Chaplain Monsignor Meyer, the 
priest kneeling at an altar of exquisitely carved Istrian 
marble, placed on the very spot where the bed had 
stood on which the Archduke was laid out by Prince 
von Coburg and Count Hoy 6 s, after the discovery of 
the suicide by these two gentlemen. The chapel is 
built in antique Gothic style, and is entered by a portal 
supported by four pillars of Swedish granite. Statues 
of St. Joseph and St. Theresa guard the portico, above 
which there is a magnificently painted window. 

The only persons present besides the imperial mourn- 
ers and their immediate attendants were the Carmelite 
nuns, who have taken possession of the former shooting- 
lodge. Their Superior, to whom the Emperor addressed 
a few gracious words at the conclusion of the service, 

Sj^ is a French noblewoman, the young Princess Jeanne 
Bibesco, whose mother was a Princess d'Elchingen, 

234 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

and a member of the family of the famous Marshal 
Ney. 

It goes, of course, without saying that Stephanie has 
never forgotten and never will forget the decision taken 
by her husband several years before his death, to the 
effect that his only child. Archduchess Elizabeth, should 
be intrusted absolutely, without any restriction what- 
soever, to the sole and complete guardianship of Emperor 
Franz -Joseph and Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and 
that moreover she should not be allowed to pass the 
frontiers of Austro-Hungary before she had attained 
her majority. This token of ^xxdioV^h^^ post-mortem dis- 
like and lack of confidence was hard enough to bear 
without there having been added to it the wide-spread 
public rumors which it aroused. 

.^ Archduchess Elizabeth was, when a child, one of the 
most interesting little ladies possible. She has inherited 
all her father's sweetness of temper, and bids fair, when 
she is quite grown up, to resemble her beautiful grand- 
mother. Empress Elizabeth. Her grandfather dotes on 
her, and seems to have transferred to her all the love 
he bore his only son. The idol of the Yiennese people, 
who call her die Meine fraii (the little woman), she 
never drives out without receiving a perfect ovation, 
and many eyes fill with tears of pity when gazing on 
the tiny princess, so early and so tragically deprived of 
a father's love. 

A few years ago an incident occurred which is so 
characteristic of the little Archduchess that it is worthy 
of being placed on record. There is a well-known 
young ladies' school at Dresden, where a great many 
Viennese girls are sent, when they reach the age of ten, 
to finish their education under the care of the celebrated 

Madame F , the owner of the school in question, and 

235 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

an Austrian by birth. Until the autumn of the time 
to which I refer, the little girls were in the habit of 
receiving from home, once a month, small boxes con- 
taining some of the delicious confectionery for which 
Vienna is renowned. Unfortunately, several cases of 
sickness among the pupils having been caused, according 
to the house physician, by too many bonbons, Madame 
F gathered the young people around her one morn- 
ing and declared to them, solemnly, that she absolutely 
forbade any more indulgences of this nature, and that 
she would moreover address a circular to the children's 
parents requesting them not to send sweetmeats or any 
other toothsome dainties to them during their stay at 
her school. 

The edict caused terrible consternation among the lit- 
tle gourmandes. There came very near being an open 
revolt against so arbitrary a measure, and matters were 
looking very black indeed when, suddenly, a dark-eyed, 
fair-haired little beauty of eleven summers climbed on 
a table, and silencing her noisy troop of comrades, ha- 
rangued them as follows : 

" Children," she exclaimed, in vibrating accents, " we 
must be revenged! We cannot allow such injustice; 
we will not submit to an undeserved punishment which 
robs us of our only pleasure. Madame is an Austrian, 
and as such, she must submit to anything done by our 
imperial family. Do you know what? We will send 
a round-robin to our little Archduchess, imploring her 
to forbid madame to treat us so cruelly." 

" What little Archduchess ? Who is she ? Where does 
she live ?" cried such of her excited listeners as were not 
Austrians. 

With a smile of pity for so much ignorance, the 
speaker explained to her now delighted audience that 

236 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Archducliess Elizabeth, the Emperor's granddaughter, 
was powerful at the court of Vienna, and that should 
she consider their prayer favorably, the whole imperial 
family would come forward, if necessary, to crush ma- 
dame's decree against the importation of sweets. 

The truth of this statement was so patent that with- 
out further delay the little girls set to work in great 
glee to draw up their petition — a document which cost 
them much pain to compose, and which ran thus : 

" Dear Archduchess Elizabeth, — We love you and your grand- 
papa very much, and we are here in Dresden at school, where we are 
generally pretty well satisfied. To-day, however, something awful 
has happened. Madame has forbidden our dear parents to send us any 
more bonbons for ever so many years ; no more sugar-plums, no more 
chocolates, no more cakes, nor anything sweet and good. So we 
want to ask you to help us out of our trouble, dear Archduchess ! 
Please, please tell your dear grandpapa to send word to madame that 
she is to let us have bonbons again as before. With this ardent 
prayer we close our letter. Our best love to your dear grandpapa 
and grandmamma. We all kiss your little hands, and remain your 
true and respectful little compatriots." 

When the long list of names had been signed to this 
remarkable epistle, it was carefully put in an envelope 
and addressed to ''Die Kleine Frau Ezherzogin Elizor 
heth, jp. Ad. Ihretn Grossvater^ den Kaiser von Oes- 
terreich, Wierh.''\ (To the little madame. Archduchess 
EHzabeth, care of her grandpapa, the Emperor of Aus- 
tria, Vienna.) And with many misgivings and heart- 
beatings it was duly mailed. 

A week later, Madame F was much surprised to 

receive a huge box addressed to " The pupils of the F 

Institute, Dresden." It came from Vienna, and was 
stamped on the lid with the imperial coat-of-arms. She 
immediately summoned all the children, and as soon as 

237 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

they caught sight of the gigantic package, the little 
Austrian conspirators huddled together, whispering to 
one another, with glowing faces and glistening eyes. 

On the top of the box lay a pink and silver card, on 
which was written, in a round, childish hand : '' From 
Archduchess Elizabeth, to her dear little compatriots in 
Dresden." 

Under the card was a letter sealed with the imperial 

crest, which Madame F opened and read with 

boundless amazement. It was written by Countess 
Coudenhove, the lady-in-waiting to the little Archduch- 
ess, who said that as a rule no notice was taken of such 

petitions as had been sent by Madame F 's little 

Austrian pupils, but that in this instance the little 
Archduchess had begged so hard to be permitted to 
grant it that their Majesties had allowed her to choose 
and send the contents of the box to her dear little com- 
patriots, with the wish that they might be allowed to 
enjoy them to their hearts' content. 

With shouts of joy the children, now almost beside 
themselves with delight, crowded round the box to ex- 
amine its sweet and fragrant contents. Nothing can 
give an idea of their enthusiasm when, one after an- 
other, boxes of exquisite bonbons of all descriptions 
were brought to light — boxes made of daintily tinted 
silks with the imperial arms and crown stamped in gold 
on each of them ; bags of silver tissue tied with azure 
ribbons and filled with chocolate pralines, each of which 
was wrapped in multicolored tissue-paper, with devices 
and mottoes; marvellous bars of Viennese nougatine 
enclosed in satin wrappers, on which the pictures of the 
Emperor and Empress were painted in water-colors; 
tiny crystal bonbonnieres containing sugared petals of 
roses and violets and orange blossoms, certainly pre- 

238 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

pared by fairies for the special delectation of good little 
Austrian subjects of his royal and imperial majesty, 
the Emperor Franz-Joseph ! The shouts almost deaf- 
ened poor Madame F , who, not so very black at 

heart after all, could only end by forgiving her pupils, 
to whom she suggested that in return for the kindness 
and favor just received, they would do well to embroid- 
er a handsome bedquilt for their little benefactress. 
This piece of work was duly brought to completion, 
and it was superb, all the httle ladies having labored at 
it with a will, while they nibbled now and again some 
of the Archduchess's exquisite bonbons, loyal little 
Austrian monarchists forever! The quilt was present- 
ed to her imperial highness upon her birthday, and gave 
her much pleasure. 



CHAPTER XIII 



IN MEMORIAM 



"Of all the crimes of anarchy— a catalogue accurst— 
This latest act of infamy must be adjudged the worst ; 
Never has base assassin struck a fouler, blacker blow 
Than that with which this callous fiend has laid the Empress low. 

*'The world stands startled and aghast; the brain of Europe reels; 
Her tongue can scarcely speak as yet the sympathy she feels; 
But where is there a heart to-day not thrilled by pity deep 
For her who died, and for the man who lives her loss to weep?" 

In December, 1897, Elizabeth's health seemed to begin 
to fail completely. She was at the time staying in 
Biarritz, and suffered from neuritis to such an extent 
that the gravest doubts were entertained as to the possi- 
bility of her enduring, even courageous as she was, for 
any great length of time, the bodily torture which she 
was undergoing. Finally she made up her mind to go 
\f to Paris in order to place herself in the hands of Dr. 
Metzger, who is a specialist of world-wide renown in 
all nervous troubles. Dr. Metzger is an original, and 
refuses squarely to call upon any patients whatever 
their rank or wealth may be, the consequence of this 
rule, which is as adamantine as the laws of the Medes 
and Persians, being that his reception-rooms are every 
day crowded with an extraordinary number of aristo- 
cratic patients, who in order to benefit by his treat- 

240 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

ment, which is chiefly one of massage, submit to long 
hours of wretchedness while waiting for him. 

With her dislike for appearing in public, the Empress 
would not consent to go to the doctor's at his usual 
consultation hours, and made a point of arriving at his 
house early in the morning, and before the rooms in 
which the massage was performed had had sufficient 
time to become thoroughly heated. This resulted in 
the treatment doing her more harm than good, and, 
thoroughly discouraged, she abandoned it, and started 
for San Remo, where she consulted the celebrated Dr. 
^Nothnagel. He was perfectly astounded at the cour- 
age which the Empress displayed, for as he described 
it himself, the pain which she suffered throughout the 
whole network of her nervous system must have re- 
sembled that which is caused by the exposed nerve of 
a tooth when it is touched by some sharp instrument. 

She hardly ever slept, and ate scarcely anything, but 
in spite of all this, her admirable, almost supernatural, 
fortitude never left her, and her patience and continual 
kindness to her entourage were something simply won- 
derful. She busied herself as usual with her books, her 
music, and her drawings, took long walks along the 
sunny, palm-bordered roads which surround San Remo 
on three sides, and her love for flowers seemed to in- 
crease, for she maintained that they were now her dear- 
est companions. Her rooms were simply filled with 
blossoming plants, palms, and ferns, for all of which she 
had a great predilection. When during her wanderings 
about the country she happened upon some peculiarly 
choice blossom, she used to bring it home with her, 
place it herself in a vase, and carry it at night into her 
bedroom, where she placed it beside her couch, so that 
she might during her long insomnia gaze at its beauty 
Q 241 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

and refresh her tired eyes by admiring the loveliness of 
petals and foliage. 

During a short stay which she made at Yiilefranche, 
on the Riviera, she happened to notice growing in the 
garden of the mayor of that little city some truly mag- 
nificent carnations, the official in question being a pas- 
sionate collector of these fragrant flowers, who spared 
neither trouble nor expense to secure the finest speci- 
mens which it was possible for him to get for love or 
money. Indeed he looked upon this collection with the 
tender jealousy of a fond mother towards her offspring, 
and woe to the sacrilegious hand ever extended to touch 
one of the enormous satiny blossoms. 

The Empress gazed longingly at the luxuriant rows 
of multicolored carnations, and finally, quite unable to 
conquer her desire to gather a few of them, she rang 
the gate bell, and in her simple, winning way begged 
very sweetly for one or two of the coveted flowers. 
The gardener, trembling in his boots lest his master 
should arrive at this inopportune moment, nevertheless 
was not proof against the request which the imperial 
lady so charmingly proffered, and, wonder of wonders ! 
allowed her to pluck two carnations — a gigantic creamy 
one all flecked with soft pink and a monstrous crimson 
one — which she preciously and victoriously bore away, 
her eyes gleaming with pleasure. 

On her way home she was met on the road by the 
mayor himself, who recognized both his property and 
the Empress, and who hurried into his beloved garden 
and called his guilty gardener to account in the follow- 
ing manner : 

" So you give away my flowers, and some of the 
finest of them, too, you miscreant !" he exclaimed, with 
assumed wrath. 

242 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

" Oh, monsieur !" quoth the old man, " the lady who 
asked for them was not one to whom one could refuse 
anything ; monsieur would have given them to her him- 
self had he been here." 

" Of course I would, you dunderhead !" replied mon- 
sieur le muire, bursting out laughing. " Why, it was 
the Empress of Austria herself who was here a minute 
ago, and she can have all the carnations she wants, for 
there are not many such angels promenading here be- 
low. Come, now, with me and we will gather a bouquet 
for her such as not even all her imperial greenhouses 
can furnish her I" 

Suiting the action to the words, the worthy mayor 
descended upon h.\^ parterres and sacked them with such 
an unsparing hand that he had soon a sheaf of long- 
stemmed carnations which were truly worthy an Em- 
press's acceptance! The gardener, following him du- 
tifully, almost dropped dead in the extremity of his 
astonishment at the spectacle of so unprecedented a 
raid upon the priceless collections, and he had by no 
means recovered from his stupefaction when he was de- 
spatched post-haste to carry this exquisite gift to the 
Empress. The latter was just on the point of leaving 
Yillefranche when the old fellow, quite breathless with 
hurry and excitement, presented himself before her. 
Deeply touched by the mayor's sacrifice, for she fully 
realized what it must have cost him to thus ruthlesslv 
saccager his beloved flower-beds, the Empress hastily 
drew from her pocket-case a visiting-card, upon which 
was simply engraved " Elizabeth," beneath an imperial 
crown, and wrote on the back of it, " Merci de tout raon 
cmur pour voire delicieuse et charmante attention, qui 
rrCa rendite tr^s KeureuseP 

I dare say that the Mayor of Yillefranche now looks 

243 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

upon this little card as one of his most precious posses- 
sions and preserves it as he would a relic. 

The first steps taken by Dr. Nothnagel were to urge 
Elizabeth to adopt a more strengthening diet, for the 
Empress, who was a remarkably small eater, was, as a 
rule, satisfied with eating fruit and drinking milk, of 
which she was very fond. 

To be sure, when in her own palaces she gave much 
attention to the menus which were presented to her 
every morning by the chief of her kitchens, and which 
she altered according to her own ideas in the matter. 
No table in the whole world was served more daintily 
or artistically than that of the Austrian court. Eliza- 
beth used to say that when one was forced to sit down 
at meals perfect ease, vast space, and soft, shadowy dis- 
tances were absolutely necessary to preserve some sort 
of illusion. Her exquisitely refined taste prevented her 
from appreciating even the most delicate of food when 
not served in a thoroughly recherche manner, and all 
that priceless porcelain, unique crystal, and mousseline 
glasses, as well as antique gold and silver plate, could 
do to etherealize a repast was done at Yienna, Buda- 
pesth, GodoUo, Ischl, Lainz, Achilleon, or wherever else 
the fair sovereign of Austro- Hungary graced her im- 
perial abodes with her presence. 

The damask was so fine that it looked like satin, and 
for lunch or afternoon tea was replaced by daintily 
hued cloths and napkins of silk-cambric, edged with lace 
and adorned with the imperial crests in raised gold em- 
broidery, a transparency of heavy silk of the same tint 
as the batiste shimmering through this delicate material. 
So prettily were the viands prepared and dished up 
that it seemed almost a pity to break up and eat them. 
The fairies themselves might have feasted upon the 

244 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

tempting pieces-montees prepared by the great artist 
who for so many years presided over the imperial 
kitchens. Mr. Kienberger — for such was the name of 
this official — held his office for over forty years, and his 
ambition consisted in making each dejeime?' or dinner 
which he supervised the most successful thing of the 
kind in the world. Like a general on the eve of battle, 
he never left the kitchens and still-rooms of the palace 
during the last twenty-four hours before any great en- 
tertainment took place. He personally superintended 
every detail, and, as he was a culinary genius himself, 
often concocted some particularly toothsome delicacy 
which he alone could make. He also was a great ad- 
vocate of serving things artistically, and he told me one v 
day ver}^ gravely, nay, almost solemnly, that he thought 
a pigeon served on a gold dish a far more appetizing 
and pleasing viand than an ortolan sent in on a common 
china plate. 

The imperial kitchens were kept with almost military 
precision. Every imaginable dainty was prepared at 
the Palace, and the Empress herself came down every / 
Monday morning to stroll through the kitchens in order v 
to see that everything was going on as it should. 

When the Empress was absent, however, matters 
were not always quite so satisfactory ; for the Emperor, 
who is a most abstemious man, does not, as a rule, care 
much about what is placed before him, is contented 
with the plainest kind of food, and rarely makes any 
remarks on the subject. Once, however, when the 
luncheon -tray was brought in, he said to his aide -de- 
camp, who had been working with him in his study 
durino^ the whole mornino: : 

" You lucky fellow ! you'll be able to get something 
good to eat at a restaurant later on, but I, when her 

245 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Majesty is away, am condemned to such unpalatable 
fare as you observe there," and he pointed with a melan- 
choly shake of his head to the rather unappetizing luke- 
warm viands which lay upon the tray. 

The Emperor is a pious Catholic, who keeps as strict- 
ly to his fasts as he does to his early rising. At such 
times he objures all meat, and contents himself with 
fish — a dish that is rather of a rarity in Yienna — and 
various kinds of omelets. His Majesty takes his fish 
preferably with buttered potatoes. 

The Hofburg cuisine was, when deprived of Eliza- 
\/ beth's supervision, peculiarly Yiennese; it was only 
w^hen she was there that the French menu had any 
chance ! Yiennese cooking is closely allied to the Ger- 
man in the simplicity and want of variety of its dishes, 
and in the " done-to-death " character of the meats, but 
yet it is decidedly more tasty and inventive, Kaiser- 
schmarn and the dumpling-like knodel having a world- 
wide reputation. 

In the summer the Emperor's so-called second break- 
fast is omitted, and he contents himself with a five- 
o'clock breakfast, consisting of a cup of coffee and a 
little Tcalte-aujlage (sliced cold sausage, ham, etc.). His 
Majesty sticks to his desk for the next seven hours 
with scarcely an interruption. At noon comes the 
lunch, or gabel-fruhstuch, consisting of a soup and a 
slice of roast. At half -past four is a dinner of six 
courses, comprising soup, fish, two roasts, pudding, and 
desserts, washed down with Pilsener beer and claret. Li- 
queurs are also served, but Franz-Joseph never touches 
them. When he has risen from the table, the Kaiser 
has finished his eating for the day and touches nothing 
more, even when in the evening he is forced to stay up 
late. Ordinarily he is in bed by nine o'clock, and to his 

246 




EMPEKOR FRANZ-JOSEPH IN 1898 



i 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

regular, moderate life he owes undoubtedly his longev- 
ity and his splendid health. This is how the Emperor 
lives winter and summer, but the arrangements neces- 
sarily undergo great alterations on every occasion when 
a state function takes place. 

Then the splendor and lavishness of the imperial table 
know no limits. All the royal fruit and vegetables are 
grown in the country, except when the time of the year 
absolutely compels their purchase abroad. The wines 
are mostly Austrian or Hungarian, but also include Bur- 
gundies, Moselles, and Khine wines, as well as Cham- 
pagne, The Emperor's Tokay wine, grown in his own 
vineyards — which with those belonging to Prince Win- 
dishgratz are the only two spots on this earth where 
real genuine Tokay grows — enjoys a world-wide reputa- 
tion. One tiny glass of it perfumes a whole room 
with its unequalled " bouquet," and it is considered so 
precious that all the world was agog when Franz-Joseph 
sent as a jubilee present to Queen Yictoria a case of this 
priceless sunshiny liquid. At the court of Vienna it is 
only served on the grandest possible occasions, and is 
otherwise reserved for cases of sickness. 

I particularly remember a dinner given in honor of \/ 
the King and Queen of Italy, at the Hof burg, some rw. 
years ago, as the culminating point of luxury combined ^^,^ 
with the most refined and exquisite taste. The table- 
cloth was strewn with forced violets, nestling so closely 
together that they formed a perfect bank of fragrant 
blossoms, leaving only room for the plates of semitrans- 
parent Sevres, of the famille-rose, each of which was 
surrounded with a thick garland of marguerites. Mar- 
guerite is the Christian name of the Queen of Ital}^, and 
her little namesakes had been used with great profusion 
in the decoration of the festive board. Before the plate 

247 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

of each woman present a slender, tulip-shaped vase of 
Venetian glass, mounted in finely wrought gold, con- 
tained a bouquet of marguerites and violets powdered 
with gold - dust. The menus were engraved on thin 
sheets of hammered gold, with the Austrian eagle em- 
bossed on the corner. Everything was served on gold 
dishes, and the dessert -plates were a marvel of beauty 
worthy of Benvenuto-Cellini. "When the sorbets were 
placed before the distinguished guests a faint murmur 
of admiration was audible, for even the hlase eyes of 
people satiated with every form of luxury were 
charmed with the little double-headed eagles made of 
delicately spun sugar perched on a pale mauve glass 
ball containing a tiny electric light. On the back of 
each diminutive bird was a large daisy, also made of 
spun sugar, wherein the sorbets were served. The 
gold plates on which the whole rested were garlanded 
with Parma violets. The dinner was really what one 
may describe without exaggeration as being the apoth- 
eosis of gastronomy. The dining-hall — scented as with 
dreamy incenses and lighted with mellow wax candles, 
the soft brilliancy of which would have entranced even 
Lucullus, had he been throned there on his ivory chair 
— was a sight to be remembered. 

Even during such banquets the Empress would often 
partake of nothing but a few slices of wheat-bread, a 
, cup of bouillon, and some fruit. She only drank wine 
^ when the doctors absolutely insisted upon her doing so, 
for she had a horror for all spirituous liquors, and her 
favorite tipple, as she used laughingly to term it, was 
the juice of many oranges poured on some cracked ice 
and served in her own particular goblet, which was 
of the thinnest possible crystal, and iridescent like a 
soap-bubble. 

348 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

One can therefore imagine how much she was an- 
x^ noyed when Dr. Nothnagel prescribed for her rare 
steaks and chops, as well as concentrated essence of 
meat. JSTevertheless, she submitted to these medical 
orders, and was much benefited by them, so much so in- 
deed that from the moment when she thus changed her 
diet she began to mend rapidly, and when, in the spring 
of 1898, she arrived at Bath ^N'auheim she had complete- 
ly recovered her strength. Her sojourn in E'auheim 
was, however, rendered very disagreeable to her by the 
extraordinarily rude behavior of the other visitors there. 
There were a great many Germans, a nationality which 
Elizabeth never could endure. A striking proof of this 
/ is that she implored the instructors and tutors of her 
^ children to " make them as little German as possible." 

Every time the sovereign went out of her hotel she 
found herself confronted by crowds who were lying in 
wait for her, and who positively went so far as well- 
nigh to prevent her progress. To such lengths did these 
ill-bred people go in order to satisfy their curiosity, that 
the gentlemen of the Empress's suite had to interfere 
bodily lest the Empress should be absolutely smothered! 
The Empress, who disliked beyond all things to be 
stared at, felt perfectly wretched in l^auheim, and con- 
- sequently began to discuss with her entourage the pos- 
sibility of going to a place where she could spend a few 
weeks unobserved and in peace. This finally led to her 
selecting Switzerland once more, although she had no 
sympathy for the Swiss nation, and knew well that 
Switzerland is a very hotbed of anarchism, a land where 
every being inoculated with nihilism or any other kind 
of revolutionary tendencies seeks refuge. 

J^ever afraid about herself, she told those who pointed 
this out again to her, as they had done each time she 

249 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

went to Switzerland before, that there was no reason 
for alarm, as she would travel incognito under the name 
of Countess von Hohenembs, and added : 

" It is the Emperor that I always think of, with re- 
gard to the crimes daily committed by anarchists, and 
for him alone that I fear them. I myself am too unim- 
portant a personage to attract their malevolence ; for it is 
so well known that I have never meddled in politics, or 
in any of the affairs of the State, and that I will never do 
so, that I hardly count in anybody's eyes as a sovereign 
at all !" 

Shortly after this conversation took place the Em- 
press established herself at Mount de Caux, and it must 
be acknowledged she enjoyed such quiet as she had 
been seeking. Indeed, she wrote several times to the 
Emperor telling him how much he himself would be 
benefited by the absolute peace which she had found 
there, and asking him to join her as speedily as possible. 
There was something singular in this earnest endeavor 
on the part of Elizabeth to decide her husband to hasten 
his departure from Yienna. One might almost think 
that it was a sort of presentiment which overmastered 
her usual reluctance to express any personal wish ; for, 
moreover, she knew that there was at that time a serious 
ministerial crisis at Yienna, and that therefore it would 
be very difficult for Franz-Joseph to leave his capital. 

Singularly unfortunate is it that he was unable to do 
so, and he must now feel very bitterly the weight of 
this refusal of his to spend with his consort the last 
days which she had to live on this earth. 

Elizabeth took a special delight in walking in the 
fragrant pine -woods, which reminded her, with their 
needle - carpeted moss, of her dear forests in Upper 
Austria. She came back from these long strolls with 

250 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

her hands full of mountain flowers, and sent some in the 
letters which she wrote daily to those whom she loved. 

How the idea came into her head to make the un- 
fortunate excursion to Geneva, which ended so tragical- 
ly for her, is only to be explained by yet one more of 
those kind and considerate actions by which her entire 
life was marked. 

Baroness Adolph Rothschild, whose beautiful villa of 
Pregny is one of the most exquisite spots on the banks 
of the lake of Geneva, had once been yery kind to the 
Empress's favorite sister, the ex-Queen of Naples, and 
that at the time when this unfortunate sovereign, 
whom the French writer, Alphonse Daudet, chose as 
the heroine of his celebrated book, Zes Hois en £xil, 
had just lost her crown and was leading a miserable ex- 
istence in Paris. Elizabeth never forgot this, and al- 
though she had a well-defined dislike for Israelites — with 
the exception of the poet Heine, whom she admired 
greatly — yet when she found herself so close to Pregny 
she decided to go and call upon Baroness Rothschild, 
promising herself a great deal of pleasure, not only in 
paying this little debt of gratitude, but also in visiting 
the magnificent collection of orchids which is one of the 
most charming fads of the Baroness. General-Adjutant 
/ Baron von Berzeviczy, who was in attendance upon the 
Empress at the time, entreated her not to go to Geneva, 
or at least, if she did persist in undertaking the trip, not 
to stay there over night. 

" What an old martinet you are becoming, my dear 
Berzeviczy," laughed the Empress. "Really, if I am 
not careful you will end by making me come ' to orders' 
every morning, and by treating me with quite military 
tyranny! ISTevertheless, I am going to risk being put 
under arrest by 3^ou for disobedience, as I am going to 

251 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Geneva in spite of all that you may say to the contrary ; 
and what is more, in order to punish you, you shall re- 
main here with the remainder of my suite to grumble 
to your heart's content, while I and Countess Sztaray, 
together with my secretary. Dr. Kromar, will make our 
Utile fugue/ I am starting in an hour, and will be back 
to-morrow evening." 

The fears entertained by the Empress's entourage were 
nothing extraordinary, for there were few who did not 
recall to mind the gross outrage to which she was sub- 
jected on the Italian shore of the Lago di Garda a few 
years before. She was making a tour of this lake on 
board a steam-launch. Having landed with the ladies 
and gentlemen of her suite at a small Italian town on 
the southern extremity of the lake, she was greeted by 
the inhabitants with hisses and hideous howls. So 
menacing indeed did the attitude of the mob become, 
and so vile and outrageous were the insulting epithets 
addressed to the imperial lady, that she was forced to 
beat a hasty retreat with her party to the boat. As 
the latter steamed away from the landing, volleys of 
stones were hurled after it by the people on the shore. 
The two or three revenue officers who were the only 
representatives of the Italian government present at 
the time maintained throughout the entire scene a per- 
fectly passive attitude, not making the slightest attempt 
to protect the Kaiserin from the jeers and insults of the 
populace. 

This attack was all the more shameful as the Em- 
press was wearing deep mourning for Eudi, and was in 
so delicate a state of health that, thoroughly upset by 
the unfortunate incident, she was confined to her apart- 
ments for two weeks from the effect it had had upon 

her nerves. 

253 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Once before also the Empress had run the risk of 
being assassinated by an Italian. It was at the open- 
ing of the exhibition at Trieste, in the early eighties, 
when an Italian Irredentist threw a bomb into the cita- 
del, by which several persons were wounded. The Em- 
peror and Empress, with the Crown-prince, were to visit 
the exhibition a fortnight later, and as further outrages 
were apprehended the Emperor and the Crown-prince 
tried to dissuade the Empress from going. The Crown- 
prince related at the time that the Empress would not 
listen to this suggestion, saying : 

" If you fear an outrage, that is a good reason why I 
should accompany you, for in such an event my place 
is by your side." Her Majesty, accordingly, went with 
her husband and son to Trieste, where, as was proved 
later by Oberdank's revelations, an Italian miscreant was 
actually watching for an opportunity to murder the im- 
perial couple. That man was afterwards hanged at 
Udine, and Oberdank and his companions at Trieste. 

Elizabeth's love for incognito voyages brought about 
a great many queer incidents, some of them dangerous, 
others extremely amusing. For instance, she had quite 
a little adventure while at Seville. One day during her 
stay there she started out unattended, save by a lady- 
in-waiting, to call on the widowed Duchess of Mont- 
pensier, who was confined to her bed by rheumatic 
fever. On reaching the palace of Castilleja the porter 
absolutely refused to admit the two ladies, and, on their 
persisting in their attempt to enter, called upon the 
police in the street to remove the trespassers, informing 
the guardians of the peace that he was convinced that 
the women were filled with the most sinister intentions. 

Fortunately, one of the old servants of the Duchess 
was attracted to the scene by the noise, and, being a 

253 



THE MARTY.RDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Frenchman, was able to understand the purpose of their 
visit and their identity, which the porter and the po- 
lice, by reason of their ignorance of any language but 
their own — which, strange to relate, the Empress did not 
speak — had been unable to do. This, of course, put an 
entirely different aspect on the affair, the porter and 
the police withdrawing with most profound apologies, 
cursing, no doubt, their stupidit}'", while the old French 
groom-of-the-chambers conducted the Empress to the 
Duchess, with whom her Majesty spent over half an 
hour in friendly conversation. 

Owing to the Empress's reluctance to appear in pub- 
lic, especially during the latter portion of her life, her 
features were not generally known to the Austrian pub- 
lic. Indeed, she was the least easily recognized of any 
member of the imperial family. This led to many ab- 
surd contre-temjps^ all the more so as she was fond of 
going about on foot, unattended save by her Greek pro- 
fessor and a servant not in livery. 

One day, when taking the train at Moedling, whither 
she had gone on foot, she sent her servant to order the 
station-master to have the train stopped at the Hotsen- 
dorf station, near her palace at Lainz. Seeing that the 
train was about to start while the man was still talk- 
ing to the station-master, she called to the conductor : 
" Tell that man in a black coat to hurry up !" Where- 
upon the officer merely turned around and bawled out : 
" Here, hurry up you, or else your good woman will 
start without you !" evidently taking the Empress for 
the simply horrified servant's wife. This is but one of 
many similar adventures which happened to the Em- 
press. 

Dr. Kromar preceded the Empress to Geneva in order 
to have all proper preparations made for her reception 

254 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

at the Hotel Beaurivage, but in accordance with her 
wishes he concealed the identity of the august visitor 
who was to be expected. As, however, her Majesty had 
occupied, some few months previously, the very self- 
same suite of rooms which he now bespoke for her, the 
proprietor of the hotel was, in spite of all this secrecy, 
well aware whom he would have the honor of harboring 
under his roof. The apartment selected was composed 
of five rooms, one of which was a salon; another, the 
Empress's sleeping - room, opened into a parlor, which 
was hastily transformed into a bath-room, for Eliza- 
beth was a great believer in hydrotherapy ; and the 
two remaining ones were to be occupied by Countess 
Sztaray. The valet and maids to be were quartered 
on the floor above. As soon as the necessary arrange- 
ments had been made, Dr. Kromar left for Territet, 
whither he had received permission to go and receive 
some personal friends of his who were to arrive from 
Austria upon that very day. 

The incognito which the Empress was so anxious to 
preserve was by no means kept, for the hotelier, very 
proud of seeing his hotel selected b}^ the sovereign, said 
to somebody who was remarking to him that it was 
rather a pity to nail down oilcloth upon the brand-new 
carpet of the parlor, which was being quickly trans- 
formed into a spacious and commodious bath-room : 

" Oh, I don't mind it at all ; it's no matter about the 
carpet, for, let me tell you, quite between ourselves, 
these rooms are for the Empress of Austria, and I will 
be well indemnified, I assure you." 

Moreover, preparations were made of such a nature 
as to attract the attention of almost all the people then 
staying at the Beaurivage. 

Elizabeth arrived at six o'clock on the Friday, and 

255 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

was much pleased with the arrangement of her apart- 
ment. Masses of asters, mauve and white in color, had 
been grouped everywhere, as they were pretty nearly 
the only flowers that, owing to the lateness of the sea- 
son, could be furnished by the florist upon such short 
notice. 

^''Die sind sehr hubsch,^^ said the Empress, looking at 
them with the peculiar softening of her entire counte- 
nance which manifested itself when admiring blossoms 
of any kind, " aber es sind ya todtenUumeny (They ar6 
very pretty, but they are death-flowers.) 

In Austria asters are principally used for the decora- 
tion of the cemeteries on All Soul's Day, an occasion 
always observed with scrupulous care by all the subjects 
of Franz-Joseph, and that is the explanation of the Em- 
press's allusion to the flowers found in her room on that, 
the eve of her death. 

Before leaving Geneva, after the awful catastrophe, 
Countess Sztaray divided those asters among all the 
members of the Empress's suite in remembrance of her. 

The Empress was on that evening in a remarkably 
merry mood. She had been delighted with her visit to 
Pregny, where she declared that she had tasted the best 
fruit to be obtained in the length and breadth of Europe, 
and had left the beautiful villa carrvino^ with her own 
hands an enormous bunch of the choicest kind of or- 
chids, which Baroness Rothschild had gathered for her, 
and which, during her trip from Pregny to Geneva, 
she continued to admire and praise, caressing with the 
tips of her slender, ungloved fingers the strange, velvety, 
many-hued petals which bore the shape of some strange- 
ly formed butterflies. Her first care when she arrived 
at the hotel in Geneva was to put her dear orchids into 
a large bowlful of cold water, attending to this even 

256 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

before she thought of removing her travelHng - cloak 
and hat. 

Both she and her lady-in-waiting were covered with 
dust, and the latter proposed to the Empress that she 
should step out on the balcony in order to have some of 
it brushed off before changing her dress. The Empress, 
however, refused to do so, for fear that it should soil her 
hair, and preferred to remove her clothes at once and 
change them for others. 

She was very proud of her hair ; in fact, the only trait 
of vanity which I ever noticed in her was the pride she 
took in those magnificent chestnut tresses which fell 
down to her ankles. She used to have them brushed 
for hours every day when I was at Yienna, I remember 
well, while her reader, Mademoiselle Ferenzy, read to 
her from English, French, or Hungarian books. Her 
Majesty was particularly anxious that the dresser who 
brushed her long braids should avoid pulling out a 
single hair. This, of course, was an impossibility, and 
the unfortunate maid concealed carefully in the pocket 
of her apron any hair which became entangled in the 
brush. One day the Empress, happening to glance into 
the looking-glass before which she sat, caught sight of 
the maid concealing a small roll of hair in the above- 
described fashion. Jumping up from her rocking-chair, 
her Majesty grasped her attendant's hand, exclaiming : 

"I have caught you at last! You are ruining my 
hair !" 

With a presence of mind which would have done honor 
to an expert diplomat, the maid replied, unhesitatingly : 

" I implore your Majesty to forgive me ; it never hap- 
pened before. I only wished to have some of my sov- 
ereign's hair to put in the locket which my little girl 
wears around her neck as a talisman." 
R 257 



/ 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Whether the Empress believed this clever invention 
or not, I do not know, but shrugging her shapely 
shoulders she resumed her seat, laughing heartil}'', and 
the next day she presented her maid with a locket 
enriched with diamonds, saying, with a mischievous 
twinkle in her eyes : 

" I think this is the kind of talisman your little 
dauo^hter deserves for havino^ such a clever mother!" 

After having changed her dress on the day of her 
fateful arrival in Geneva, the Empress drank a glass 
of milk, and prepared to go for a little stroll on the 
quay Avhich borders the lake. Upon returning to the 
hotel she wrote a few letters and went to bed. On 
the next morning — that of her death — she woke up 
in a charming mood, and after taking her bath and 
getting dressed, she went out with Countess Sztaray 
to do a little shopping, stopping several times during 
her walk to look into the windows of the florists', jewel- 
lers', and souvenir-de-la-Suisse shops which abound in 
Geneva. 

Soon after her return to the hotel she dismissed her 
women, who departed by railroad for Territet, and who, 
as they passed along the street on their way to the sta- 
tion, failed to observe a young man who was sitting 
upon a bench right in front of the Beaurivage, intently 
watching all that was going on there. 

That there was such a young man has been later on 
asserted by many people who used their eyes to better 
purpose than did the Empress's small suite. 

This man was Luccheni, the assassin, and he seemed 
to be taking note of every bit of luggage which was be- 
ing made ready in front of the hotel for transportation 
to the steamer Geneva. He, of course, saw the Empress's 
servants leave, and a little later noticed the valet de cham- 

258 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

hre^ who was to accompany his imperial mistress on her 
trip across the lake, make his way towards the wharf, 
carrying on his arm the Empress's long black cloak and 
in his hand her travelling-case. He was dressed in plain 
clothes, and soon disappeared from view on the gang- 
plank that united the waiting ship to the quay. Shortly 
afterwards two ladies, both robed in black, left the Ho- 
tel Beaurivage, walking rapidly towards the steamer, 
for the clanging of a bell was announcing that it was 
on the point of starting. Countess Sztaray walked a 
little ahead of the Empress, signalling with her hand to 
the men who were in the act of withdrawing the gang- 
plank to stop doing so. 

At this moment Luccheni bounded across the street, 
and roughly brushing past the Countess, threw himself 
upon the Empress. 

Not a cry escaped her as she fell on her knees to the 
ground, and almost instantly she was on her feet again, 
while Countess Sztaray screamed at the top of her voice, 
to prevent the murderer from being allowed to escape 
into the Rue des Alpes ; at the time, however, she be- 
lieved that he was merely a thief who had attempted to 
steal the Empress's watch. 

She threw her arm around the Empress's waist to sup- 
port her, but Elizabeth, although ghastly pale, refused 
her help, and upon being asked whether she was hurt 
replied, with almost her habitual calmness ; 

" E'o, I do not think so — not much at least ;" and turn- 
ing to a passer-by who was attempting to brush off some 
of the dust with which her fall had covered her, she 
said, smiling sweetly : " It is not worth while, thanks 
very much" {Ce rtest pas lajpeine, merci Men). 

With a firm step she walked towards the steamer, 
crossed the gang-plank, and then fell fainting to the 

259 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

deck. She was immediately carried to the upper deck 
of the Geneva^ although all those who surrounded her 
continued stupidl}^ to imagine that she had been merely 
startled and was not seriously hurt, and there she was 
laid upon some red velvet cushions hastily brought 
from the captain's room. In spite of the immediate use 
of smelling-salts, cold water, and vinegar, the Empress 
did not recover consciousness, and so terribly white and 
drawn did her beautiful features become that Countess 
Sztaray, who stood by ringing her hands helplessly, fi- 
nally made up her mind to unfasten the imperial lady's 
corsage. Upon doing so she gave a terrible scream, for 
she found that it had been pierced by some sharp instru- 
ment above the left breast, and that a few drops of blood 
were slowly oozing from a very small triangular wound 
which showed like a deep purple mark upon the tender 
white flesh. 

Meanwhile the steamer had put out from the shore, 
and was rapidly gliding over the unruffled blue waters 
of the lake. There was no doctor on board, and the 
lady-in-waiting, almost beside herself with the sense of 
her crushing responsibility, demanded that the boat 
should immediately return to Geneva. 

She was obej^ed, and a stretcher was hurriedly put to- 
gether with the help of rugs and cushions upon some 
oars. Those who were bending over her Majesty at that 
moment noticed that a faint tremor passed over her face, 
her wonderful dark-blue eyes opened for the last time, 
and she stretched her hands out with an infinite longing 
towards the azure skies above. One fleeting glance 
upward, then, her hands still stretched out as if in 
prayer, she murmured "Jf^m," and with the daunt- 
less heroism of her soft, sad smile lingering about her 
lips, she gave a tired little sigh like that of a child 

260 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

sinking to sleep, and lay motionless on her crimson 
pillows. 

As soon as the steamer touched the pier, Captain Roux, 
of the Geneva, and his officers carried the stretcher to 
which the Empress had been transferred out of the ves- 
sel and up to her room at the Beaurivage, that room 
which she had left, but a short time before, full of life 
and energy. 

She was tenderly laid upon the bed, and a priest w^ho 
had been sent for, and who had arrived on the spot 
even before the sorrowful little procession, administered 
to her the last sacraments. The physicians summoned 
to her bedside did all that lay within their power to re- 
vive the Empress; artificial respiration, friction, and 
even bleeding were all vainly attempted, and, at three 
o'clock, with another weary little sigh, Elizabeth's pure 
and noble soul took flight. 

The despair of her entourage cannot be described. Sobs 
and moans were heard on all sides, and the Empress's 
old valet de cJiambre was taken so violently ill that his 
condition required immediate medical attention. Count- 
ess Sztaray telegraphed at once to the Emperor, and to 
Count Paar, chief aide-in-camp of his Majesty, and then 
took steps to have the Empress's salon transformed into 
a mortuary chapel. 

This room, so filled with sunshine, which shone through 
the broad balconies overlooking the lake shore, was 
draped completely — floor, ceiling, walls, and doors, as 
well as windows — with black velvet hangings, flecked 
with silver. The coffin, lined with white satin and white 
velvet, was placed beneath the middle window, and with 
her head reposing on a lace pillow the dead Empress lay 
therein, clad in a long white satin robe, her hands crossed 
over a rosary and an ivory crucifix, and surrounded by a 

361 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

glorious gariand of snowy, golden-hearted roses. A large 
veil of lace half -covered her and fell to the floor, where, 
at the foot of the coffin, a cushion made of white roses 
bore the inscription, "'Bepose en PaixP Myriads of 
blessed candles shed a soft radiance over the countless 
wreaths and bouquets which were sent from every quar- 
ter, and nuns and priests knelt continually on prie-dieus^ 
reciting the prayers for the dead. 

Nothing can describe the loveliness of the expression 
y' overspreading the marmorean features of the dead Em- 
press ; such absolute, contented peace and restf ulness 
belong onl}^ to angels. Although during the moments 
which had preceded her death there had been a sort of 
convulsed, suffering look upon her face, yet immediately 
afterwards the brow became smooth, the lips parted in 
a heavenly smile, disclosing the pearly teeth, and the 
only shadow noticeable on her countenance was that 
which was thrown by the deep fringe of her dark lashes 
upon her velvety cheeks. 

There is but little more to say, for this work should 
treat only of Elizabeth's earthly career, not of the mag- 
nificent pageant by which her people attempted to make 
up in funeral display for their previous lack of apprecia- 
tion and of loyalty towards their Empress. I will there- 
fore give but a short description of it. 

The mourning- train, with its sorrowful company of 
sable-clad officials, passing slowly through Switzerland 
and Austria amid the tolling of muffled bells; the arrival 
at Vienna — sorrowful and gloomy Yienna — so unlike the 
gay, brilliant city we all know so well ; the superb pro- 
cession following the coffin to and from the Burg ; all 
this has been described by the press of many countries. 
The numberless poor, who came from far and Avide to 
catch a glimpse of the casket containing the remains of 

263 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Elizabeth of Austria, constituted the most touching 
element of the long journey and of the funeral cere- 
mony. 

The pilgrimage of mourners from the suburbs to the 
vicinity of the Hofburg commenced at three o'clock in 
the morning on the day of the funeral. By four o'clock 
there was already a dense crowd in the Albrecht Platz, 
opposite the Jockey Club, and at five, when the troops 
began to line the streets, those who desired to see the 
body lying in state found that it was almost too late, 
as immense crowds had already congregated to wait for 
the funeral in the afternoon. The Albrecht Platz of- 
fered an excellent coign of vantage, and particularly the 
Albrecht Eampe, an elevated roadway leading to the 
late Archduke Albrecht's palace, and people took up 
their post there at a very early hour. The diflSculty of 
keeping order in the vast crowd was indeed enormous, 
owing to the restricted area intersected by narrow streets 
into which had congregated a town population of one 
and a half millions, with another half million of country 
people and strangers. There were two streams of vis- 
itors. One consisted mostly of women who wished to 
see their Empress as she lay in state between eight and 
twelve o'clock; the other was waiting for the carriages, 
the foreign sovereigns, the deputations, clergy, and mil- 
itary, and, finally, for the funeral itself. These two 
streams in the end united to form a compact mass of 
human beings, unable to move backward or forward, 
and filling not only the immediate neighborhood of the 
Hofburg, but also the Graben, the Karntner-Strasse, and 
the Herrengasse. 

When the hour of the funeral arrived, some of the 
people managed to climb the steeples of the churches of 
St. Michael and St. Augustin ; and the two rooms of the 

263 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

fire-watch on the tower of St. Stephen's, to which there 
are three hundred and forty-three steps, were filled with 
spectators unable to pay for access to windows or bal- 
conies on the route to the Keuer-Markt, in which the 
Capuchin church is situated. 

The atmosphere of gloom w^hich spread over the capi- 
tal bore sure witness to the genuineness of the sorrow 
which the people felt — sorrow tempered with profound- 
est sympathy for the old Emperor her death had left so 
lonely. In this his year of jubilee, Franz- Joseph stood 
among the rulers of Europe a heart-broken and solitary 
figure — pathetic to the last degree, bereaved by violence 
of his only son, and now by violence also of his consort, 
and with a w^eight of sorrow gnawing at his soul of 
which but few can measure the enormity, or know the 
many hidden springs. 

There vras from the moment when the Empress's re- 
mains were brought to Yienna a universal desire to oc- 
cupy one's self exclusively with her tragic fate, and this 
was best observed in the streets, where everything spoke 
of her. The pavements and roadways were thronged 
with a dense crowd, in which women dressed in black 
were a prominent feature. Maids, for instance, wore 
black frocks and snow-white aprons, a mourning cos- 
tume characteristic of Yiennese women, and walked to 
the chapel in this dress. Along the street that leads 
from Schonbrunn to the gates of the Burg-Palace no 
walking was possible, and the people stood in rows so 
dense that they formed a kind of additional black pall 
covering the broad thoroughfare. 

The scene within the Church of the Capuchins was 
extraordinarily imposing, and at the same time touching 
beyond description. The cardinals, bishops, and other 
clergy stood on the right side of the altar; on the left 

264 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

was the heavily curtained door by which the court had 
entered. The Capuchin church, though it was decorated 
with black draperies throughout, including vestry and 
corridors, though every wall was covered with black 
velvet and every doorway hung with heavy black cur- 
tains, still retained the character of poverty suited to 
the order whose convent adjoins it. The high altar was 
marked only by a large cross in cloth of gold. Gold 
candelabra, with wax candles, and countless other bless- 
ed candles in sconces, lighted the church, but they burned 
diml}'- in the oppressive heat. The ground was entirely 
covered with black cloth, the steps to the altar and the 
platform reserved for the court being marked by white 
strips of ribbon. On the walls hung the Empress's es- 
cutcheons. They had to be changed in the night pre- 
ceding the funeral, for they merely bore the inscription, 
'^Elizabetha Im^eratrix Austrice,'^^ and when the Hun- 
garian deputations came they remarked this immedi- 
ately, and protested the moment they left the chapel. 
The court ofHcials immediately took down those hatch- 
ments, replacing them by others on which ^^ liegina 
Hungarim^'' stood written in letters as big as '^Impera- 
trix Austriw.''^ 

At the foot of the coffin were placed, on cushions, the 
orders and decorations of the dead Empress, and also 
the large blacli fan which she invariably carried, to- 
gether with a pair of long white suede gloves. Her 
crowns as Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungar}^ and 
Princess in Bavaria sparkled at the head of the coffin. 

The display of flowers was so great and so magnificent 
that even she, who never had enough of them about her, 
would have been satisfied, I think. 

Queen Victoria's wreath was composed of pale pink 
chrysanthemums, tuberoses, violets, lilies, and palm- 

265 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

leaves, and the wreath from the Princess of Wales was 
formed of Marechal-Niel roses, violets, and silver palms. 
The former bore the following inscription in German, 
received from her Majesty in a cipher telegram: 

'* Ein Zeichen derinnigsten Freundschaft und Verehrung von ihrer 
getreuen Schwester. — Victoria R. I." 

(A token of the deepest friendship and veneration from her faithful 
sister.— YiCTOKiA R, I.) 

The latter wreath was inscribed, "From the Prince 
and Princess of "Wales," and bore on a white satin rib- 
bon the following words : 

" Sister thou art gone before us, 
And thy saintly soul is flown 
Where tears are wiped from every eye, 
And sorrow is unknown." 

The inane reports to the effect that the Empress and 
Queen Victoria had been on bad terms were utterly 
untrue. Yery much to the contrary, the aged ruler of 
Great Britain admired and loved Elizabeth greatly. 

The Empress wrote in the most touching terms to 
Queen Victoria after the death of the Prince-consort, 
and that message was the beginning of a most interest- 
ing correspondence, which never ceased to be frequent 
and affectionate in the extreme. The deceased Em- 
press also wrote in an equally feeling manner to the 
Empress Eugenie when Napoleon III. died, and more 
recently to the Empress Frederick when she lost her 
husband. Indeed she allowed no occasion to pass with- 
out displaying her kindness towards those in affliction, 
whatever their rank, and all those to whom she had 
thus shown sympathy in their trouble remembered it 
when death claimed her too. 

266 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

High and low brought or sent their floral offerings ; 
kings and queens, emperors and empresses, princes, 
dukes, counts, bourgeois, beggars even, managed to 
convey a vast and splendid or a small and humble 
fragrant token of their reverence to be placed about the 
coffin. 

Dr. Christomanos, the Empress's Greek instructor, 
laid with his own hands a cluster of tuberoses on 
the steps of the dais upholding the catafalque, beside 
the garland of snowy blossoms, four yards wide, sent 
by the Emperor of Russia, and touching on the other 
side a sheaf of forest flowers and branches, brought 
by a sobbing Tyrolese peasant early that morning. 
Those who read the Empress aright know how much 
more highly she would have prized the humble offering 
of the peasant than the costly wreath of the great and 
powerful sovereign. 

The perfume from all these glorious blooms was al- 
most more than one could bear, however, and floated 
heavily on the atmosphere, mingled with the spicy odor 
of the incense and that of the burning waxen tapers. 

Sobs echoed ceaselessly under the vaults of the sacred 
edifice, and came not only from the seats reserved for 
the royal ladies present, but from the entire assistance, 
while the poor Emperor wiped the tears which continu- 
ally rolled down his pale cheeks. 

The Prince-Cardinal also, when giving the last benedic- 
tion, finished in a voice broken by sobs, and there was 
not a dry eye when the coffin was lifted by its bearers 
and borne to the entrance of the narrow stone staircase 
leading down to the crypt. All the emperors, kings, 
and princes, all the archdukes and archduchesses, bowed 
low as it passed. It was their last salute to the dead 
Empress, and they all remained standing or kneeling in 

267 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

prayer till the Emperor, his two sons-in-law, and the 
two brothers of the late Empress had returned from the 
vault, which was after a space of about fifteen minutes. 
Capuchin friars, with lighted tapers, stood at the top of 
the staircase and went down with the coffin to its foot, 
preceded by Prince - Cardinal Gruscha and the assist- 
ant clergy, and followed by the Lord Chamberlain, the 
Emperor, and the princes already mentioned. The 
coffin was placed upon a bier draped with cloth of gold. 
A prie-dieio near by was reserved for the Emperor, 
and his Majesty knelt down, covering his face with his 
hands, and leaning his head on the edge of the prayer- 
stool. 

In that posture he remained during the short cere- 
mony of once more blessing the remains. But that 
office w^as not yet finished w^hen the monarch's entire 
body began to tremble and deep sobs shook him, so that 
everybody present, including the clergy and even the 
monks who had seen so many funerals there, were un- 
able to refrain from tears. The unfortunate Emperor 
rose, knelt again before the coffin, and let his head fall 
upon the lid, where it remained for several seconds. 
Kissing repeatedly the wooden shell which contained 
all that was left of his consort, he at last rose, forced 
himself into an erect position, and without turning, 
mounted the staircase. The Emperor was followed hj 
the princes, and as he reappeared in the church his eyes 
were still filled with tears. 

The ceremony of identifying the body and the hand- 
ing over of the keys to the custody of the monks were 
performed in his absence. After the Emperor had left 
the cr3^pt, the monks opened a small slab of wood at 
the head of the coffin, revealing under plate glass the 
face of the Empress, and the Father Guardian of the 

268 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

crypt was formally interrogated by the Lord Chamber- 
lain as to whether he could identify the features as 
being those of the late Empress Elizabeth. On a reply 
being given in the affirmative, the coffin was again 
closed and committed to the care of the monks, who 
received one of the keys, the second one being handed 
to the Lord Chamberlain. 

A copy of the medical reports made by the doctors 
who performed the autopsy is also in the hands of the 
Lord Chamberlain. The document runs as follows : 

" The weapon employed by the assassin was of steel, 
pointed, three-cornered, and exceedingly sharp. It en- 
tered the body through the fourth rib, which was broken 
by the blow. After following the rib for a short dis- 
tance it passed inward through the interior border of 
the lung, entered the pericardium, and penetrated the 
left ventricle of the heart. Passing from above down- 
ward, it traversed the left ventricle and passed out 
through the heart wall. The wound was two and a half 
millimetres in circumference and eight and a half centi- 
metres in length. It had ragged edges, having been in- 
flicted with a sharp but rough weapon. Death resulted 
from hemorrhage into the pericardium. 

"The reason why the Empress was able to walk 
eighty paces after the heart had been completely punct- 
ured is explained by the fact that the flow of blood 
into the pericardium was very slow, owing to the small 
size of the wound. Had the weapon not been with- 
drawn she would have lived longer, for it was by the 
gradual infiltration of blood into the pericardium that 
life was destroyed. 

" In the case of the Duke of Berry, who received a 
similar wound, the weapon was left in place, and he 

269 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

lived four hours. It nevertheless required undaunted 
courage and extraordinary energy on the part of the 
Empress to have accomplished what she did." 

Strangely enough, for a long time previous to the as- 
sassination of Elizabeth, forebodings of an impending 
catastrophe prevailed in the imperial family, and so 
strong were these that the Emperor was heard several 
times to exclaim: "Oh, how I wish this jubilee year 
were over !" 
J On April 24:th — that is, just a little over five months 
before the catastrophe — the sentinel posted in a corri- 
dor or hall leading to the chapel at the Hofburg was 
startled almost out of his senses by seeing the form of 
a white-clad woman approaching him soon after one 
o'clock in the morning. He at once challenged her, 
whereupon the figure turned around and passed back 
into the chapel, where the soldier observed a light 
shining. Hastily summoning assistance, a strict search 
was instituted and the chapel was explored, without, 
however, any result. 

The sentinel in question was a stolid, rather dull- 
minded Styrian peasant, who was possessed of little 
power of imagination, and who probably was entirely 
ignorant, therefore, of the traditions according to which 
a woman arrayed in white makes her appearance by 
night in the imperial palace, either in the chapel or 
in the adjoining corridors and halls, whenever any mis- 
fortune is about to overtake the imperial house of 
Hapsburg. 

On such occasions this spectral visit to the sentinel on 
duty has been described in the report of the officer of 
the guard on the following morning and is, therefore, a 
matter of official record. The previous visitations of 

270 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the white lady had taken place on the eve of the 
/ shocking tragedy of Mayerling, a few weeks before the 
shooting of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and just be- 
fore the burning to death of the daughter of old Arch- 
duke Albert, at Schonbrunn. The tradition is so deeply 
rooted that the same supernatural appearance at the 
^ time when Archduke John vanished from all ken was 
enough to convince the imperial family that he is no 
longer in the land of the living, as so many believe, but 
that he really perished at sea, while on his way around 
Cape Horn from La Plata to Valparaiso. 

The guests leaving the Burg after the funeral were 
much struck by the peculiarly impressive appearance of 
the city. All the street lamps which had been lighted 
were swathed in crape, and the flame shimmering 
through this veil had a peculiarly lugubrious look. The 
streets were filled with black draperies and black flags, 
and even from the roofs depended great sable-hued ban- 
ners which shivered sadly in the breeze. The accursed 
name of the assassin, Luccheni, was on every lip, and 
the thought of his awful deed in every heart. 

The Hungarian magnates, in their gorgeous mourning 
trappings, the Polish nobles, the hussars and haiduks in 
attendance, the princes of the church, the peers of the 
realm, as well as the small tradesmen, the peasants, 
and the court servants, all discussed with like ener- 
gy and equal wrath the possibilities of Luccheni's ex- 
tradition, and expressed regret and lament about there 
not having been a single hand lifted in defence of the 
Empress nor a single breast placed as a shield between 
her and the weapon of her assassin. Indeed, general in- 
dignation was great, and poor old Koloman Tiszii, the 
aged ex-Minister of Hungary, who was walking with 
Moritz Jokai, the poet-deputy of the Magyars, wrung 

271 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

his hands and shed tears as they talked about this 
hideous crime, which finds no parallel in the history of 
the world. The name of Luccheni was heard again and 
again like a knell, from one end to the other of the 
crowd descending the steps of the Capuchin church. 



CHAPTER XIV 

In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, the 
murderer of the Empress of Austria knew well what he 
was about when he committed his foul and villanous 
crime within the frontiers of a country where the death 
penalty has been abolished. It is all very well to say 
that anarchists are possessed with courage of a quality 
quite out of the ordinary; this is by no means the case, 
and althouo^h amono^ the ranks of Russian ISTihilists there 
have been some instances of lives being sacrificed lightly, 
cheerfully, and with a singular, if ill-applied, sort of he- 
roism in the interest of the cause, both by men and wom- 
en, yet none of these unbalanced or demented creatures 
who seek to attain an impossible bourne by blood-shed- 
ding and treachery can ever be called heroes, or even 
courageous people. 

In most cases they seek notoriety, and whether they 
belong to the lower classes of society or to a higher 
status, were they certain that the aureole of martyrdom 
would eventually be denied to them, and that their trial 
by jury would "not be public, nor their ultimate punish- 
ment witnessed and discussed by the people at large, 
there would of a certainty be a large decrease in the 
number of those abominable crimes which have inspired 
all decent persons with horror and disgust. 

The anarchist movement has made enormous progress 
since the time, when just thirty years ago it may be said 
to have been founded by the Russian ex-convict, Baron 
s 273 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Bakounine, at Geneva, for it is only since that time that 
the so-called sect of anarchists has become known ; still 
the spirit of defiance against superiority of any kind 
wherein anarchy has found its birth existed long previ- 
ous to that date. 

Revolution was not invented by Bakounine. He did 
not inspire the terrible deeds which took place in France 
during the Beign of Terror, nor did his theories urge 
on the Indian thugs. The same spirit which filled the 
brandy - soaked brains of the assassins of Louis XYI. 
and of Marie Antoinette is the breath of revolution in 
its ugliest shape, and it is to be traced from one end 
of this planet to the other, wherever there exist — and 
that is everywhere — conditions begetting moral, social, 
or financial superiority of one class over another. 

Luccheni is, like a large number of such criminals, an 
Italian, and although he pretends he was nothing but a 
poor and uneducated creature, it has been proved that 
he on the contrary has more than a smattering of knowl- 
edge, which is perhaps the most dangerous condition for 
a man of his tendencies. His career was checkered by 
many changes, for he was at different times a soldier, 
a laborer, a student, and also, during some months, the 
servant of the Prince and Princess of Arazona. He read 
a quantity of trash about anarchism and nihilism which 
he was quite unable to comprehend or to digest, but 
which aroused in him a violent hatred for those whom 
he considered to be more fortunate than himself. In 
him one can find a new and terrible example of the erro- 
neous ideas concerning the so-called philanthropic efforts 
which tend more and more to educate the masses after a 
fashion, yet altogether inadequately. 

The denials of Luccheni with regard to his having been 
affiliated with one or more secret societies are absolutely 

374 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

futile, for, on the contrary, it was because he had been 
accused of being too lukewarm in his principles, and too 
behindhand in the services which he could have rendered 
to the cause, that he suddenly made up his mind to dis- 
prove these accusations and to alarm the world by an 
act so grewsome that it would remain absolutely with- 
out parallel in history. 

This goes far to prove that the man was by no means 
an illiterate or an ignorant person, for he certainly 
selected his victim with a care which betokened his anx- 
iety to make his crime a subject of world-wide com- 
ment. It is true that he alleged that at first his intention 
was to kill the Duke of Orleans and not the Empress ; 
but this is probably false, for, long before he com- 
mitted the murder he had cast his choice upon the Em- 
press of Austria, whom he had seen and watched previ- 
ously at Budapesth — so at least he himself declared 
when hard pressed by the examining magistrate. The 
assassination of the Duke of Orleans, regrettable as it 
would have been, would have by no means created so 
terrible a sensation as the one finally perpetrated, the 
Duke not being a sufficiently important personage to be 
missed and mourned as was the one faultless and abso- 
lutely perfect figure of Europe's sovereignty. 

Moreover, Luccheni had accomplices who preceded 
him to Switzerland. Two of the affiliated — namely, 
Pozzio and Barbotti, as well as Pozzio's mistress, a girl 
of the name of Lina Zahler — w^ere arrested after the 
crime. It was this girl who purchased in Lausanne a 
sharp, murderous-looking knife for the sum of twelve 
francs, which, as she remarked when handing it to 
Luccheni, ^' was a good deal of money to pay for an 
instrument which would serve but once !" So regretful 
did the girl seem to be about this sum having been spent 

275 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

that Pozzio took possession of the knife, and exclaimed 
that he would take it back to the shop and recover the 
twelve francs, while Luccheni contented himself with 
purchasing a long and ^lender file, which he sharpened 
like a stiletto and provided with a commodious wooden 
handle. 

It is very evident that Luccheni attempted, from the 
very moment of his arrest, to pose as a cynic of the most 
pronounced description. His declaration to the men who 
captured him as he was trying to fly in the Kue des Alpes 
after the perpetration of his shameful deed is sufficient 
proof of this, for he called out at the top of his voice : 
"I hit her well, bravo! Long live anarchy! All the 
other sovereigns will follow, and all the wealthy folks 
as well. Long live the Social Kevolution !" Indeed, he 
assumed a joyful and smiling attitude, which would 
have rendered excusable the most atrocious form of 
lynching, and it is very lucky for him, as he seems to 
care so much for his life, that he should have fallen 
into the hands of thick-headed, slow-blooded Swiss, in- 
stead of into those of Americans, French, or Austrians, 
who have not so much mastery over their indignation, 
and who would have made an end of him there and 
then. 

His letter addressed to the Swiss Federal Council 
requesting to be judged in Lucerne, where capital 
punishment is still in force, is but another incident 
of the comedy of cynicism which he played through- 
out. 

" I am a soft-hearted, glorious anarchist," wrote Luc- 
cheni. " It has been for a long time past my most cher- 
ished ideal to strike society in one of its summits. I 
have now attained this ideal, and I am the happiest man 
in the world. I am no coward, and do not fear death. 

276 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

In fact, I long to be beheaded and to add my name to 
the glorious list of martyrs who have fallen while work- 
ing for our sacred cause." 

He is not a coward, so he says ; and still what is a 
man to be called who murders in cold blood a defence- 
less woman — a woman who never did him or anybody 
else an injury ? And what can it be save braggadocio 
which inspired his reply to the examining judge when 
the latter asked him : 

" "Were you not impressed by hearing the funeral 
knell ring for your victim ? Did it not make you sad 
and remorseful to know that you had plunged so many 
human creatures into despair?" 

^'JSTo," replied Luccheni, with a sneer. "When I 
heard those bells I considered them to be the funeral 
knell of the bourgeoisie, whom I detest. Until the world 
swims in blood there will be no peace and no comfort 
for us working-people, who outnumber so greatly the 
useless, wealthy, and privileged beings that have tyran- 
nized over us for centuries." 

It is a wonder, still remaining unexplained, that the 
Austrian authorities should not have taken steps to ob- 
tain this wretch's extradition, and it has aroused the 
indignation of almost everybody to think that he is 
being treated exactly in the same manner as an ordinary 
criminal condemned for life. Surely a lesson was need- 
ed, and an example should have been made of Luccheni, 
but there are and will remain some very mysterious 
points about the sad circumstances surrounding the 
Empress's assassination, which are better allowed to 
pass from the minds of those who were truly and deeply 
fond of her, lest their feelings should become too hope- 
lessly embittered. 

During his trial, Luis Luccheni kept up his defiant 

277 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

and self-satisfied attitude. He remained cynical and 
indifferent, manifested no regret for his act, and coolly- 
stated that if he had the opportunity again he would 
grasp it once more. Of course the court -room was 
crowded, every seat being occupied immediately after 
the doors were opened. 

Luccheni was brought to the scene of the trial at an 
early hour from the prison St.-Antoine, which is in close 
proximity to the Palais de Justice, only a garden inter- 
vening. Although closely guarded by gendarmes in 
full uniform, he awaited the opening of the proceedings 
in a small room adjoining the court quite peacefully, 
conversing with his keepers and smoking innumerable 
cigarettes just as if he had come there to witness a 
pleasant spectacle instead of being the central figure of 
an appalling tragedy. 

At nine o'clock the judges took their seats upon the 
bench. The tribunal was composed of M. Bourgy, 
President of the Court of Justice, and of MM. Schutsle 
and Eacine, Judge Accessors. To the right of the raised 
platform upon which they took their places was the seat 
assigned to the public prosecutor, M. ]S"avazza, while on 
the left were the clerk of the court, M. Rougnieux, and 
the members of the jury, a small space being reserved 
between the jury box and the body of the court for the 
witnesses in the case. 

The prisoner upon being brought into court was 
placed beside the Advocate, Maitre Moriaud, who in 
absence of counsel for the defence had been appointed 
to act on his behalf. The seats reserved for the press 
Avere occupied by about fifty journalists of various 
nationalities. Among others present in the body of the 
court were M. Bremmerd, Federal Councillor ; M. Scherb, 
Procureur General of the Confederation, and Baron 

278 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

Giskra, Secretary of the Austro-Hungarian Legislation 
and Representative of his Majesty the Emperor of 
Austria. 

Luccheni was smoothly shaved, his mustache was 
curled with extraordinary care, and he bestowed upon 
the court a graceful bow, which was a masterpiece of 
vulgar impudence and reckless impertinence. On a 
table near by were placed the so-called pieces de convic- 
tion, consisting of the loathsome file, a military certifi- 
cate found in the assassin's pocket, a photograph repre- 
senting him in his uniform of the Italian cavalry regi- 
ment of Monteferrato, and wearing the war medal of 
the Abyssinian campaign, etc. 

This last examination of Luccheni, undertaken by the 
president of the court, brought to light several facts 
which until then had remained unpublished. From it was 
gathered that Luccheni, during the time when he was 
serving his country, had given satisfaction to his supe- 
rior officers, and had shown no sign of harboring the 
anarchistic theories which he displayed later on. In 
fact, he was so well thought of in his regiment that his 
captain took him into his house as servant, and had at 
the time no reason whatsoever for repenting having 
done so. During his stay in his captain's house he was 
known to be intent upon reading everything he could 
obtain about the Dreyfus case, and also about M. An- 
dre's polar voyage ; he also, when his evening off duty 
came around, used to go and hear conferences on singu- 
larly abstruse matters. In one word, he gave his em- 
ployers the impression that he was much above the 
ordinary run of common soldiers. Strange to say, three 
days before killing the Empress, Luccheni wrote a letter 
to his former captain's wife, whom he had heard was 
spending a short time in Paris. This letter, which was 

279 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

communicated to the authorities, was well written, well 
spelled, and ran as follows : 

"Madame la Princesse: 

"Having heard that you are in Paris, I would have been glad to 
come and pay my respects there, to yourself, and to your family, but 
circumstances over which I have no control force me to remain in 
Switzerland for a little while longer. I have, however, already bought 
my ticket for the capital of France, but perhaps before I arrive there 
you will have found out the reason which prevented me from coming 
sooner. I am in excellent health, and hope that yourself and your 
honored family are in the same condition. I expect to leave Geneva 
on Sunday. In the meanwhile I remain, Madame la Princesse, 

** Your humble servant, 

"L. LUCCHENI.'* 

It may seem passing strange that an anarchist so 
embittered against the aristocracy should have written 
y thus to Princesse Dolores di Yera d'Arazona, and when 
on the Saturday following the day upon which she re- 
ceived this epistle Madame d'Arazona read of the assas- 
sination by Luccheni of the Empress of Austria, her 
amazement and disgust may be better imagined than 
described. 

The questions of the president of the court elicited 
also the facts that Luccheni was born in Paris on the 
2d of April, 1873, and that on the 9th of August, 1874, 
he was placed in the poor-house of Parma, where he was 
given the number of 29,239. He was born in the second 
Arrondissement of Paris, and his etat- civil designates 
y him as " Luis Luccheni, father unknown ; mother, Luigia 
Luccheni, daughter of John Luccheni and of Marie 
Macelli (of Albaceto), unmarried, laundress." 

The first witness called was M. St. Martin, electrician, 
who deposed that he saw the prisoner strike the Em- 
press, but was unable to say at the moment whether 
his object was to rob or to kill her Majesty. He stated 

280 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

that when the prisoner at the bar attempted to escape 
he pursued him and arrested him with the assistance of 
the boatman, Rouget ; that Luccheni did not offer much 
resistance, but declared loudly at first that he had done 
nothing blamable. Here the witness was interrupted 
by a violent protest on the part of Luccheni, who called 
out : 

" I did not say that. I have never been ashamed of 
my deed. I told you, on the contrary, that I had just 
killed the Austrian Empress." 

When silence had been re-established, the boatman 
Eouget was called in, and repeated very nearly the same 
story as had been told by St. Martin. He was followed 
on the witness-stand by Yeuillemain, a coachman, who 
was stationed in front of the Brunswick monument 
when the crime was committed, and who said that he 
had noticed Luccheni lounging against a railing some 
minutes before his attack upon the Empress's person ; 
and added that he heard with his own ears Luccheni 
exclaim immediately after his arrest : 

" I hope that I did not miss her ! E'ext will come 
the King of Italy, but now, unfortunately, I will be 
prevented from having the pleasure of doing for him 
mvself." 

ft/ 

The doctors who attended the dying Empress were 
next heard, and after explaining the nature of the wound 
inflicted and reading the reports which they had made 
ready, they declared, on their soul and conscience, as did 
also the medical experts attached to the tribunal, "that 
the Lombroso theories could not be applied to Luccheni, 
who is perfectly sound of mind, eats and sleeps well, 
and has not the slightest trace of melancholy, remorse, 
or regret even, in his composition." 

Another witness, M. Sartoris, who is a painter, de- 

281 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

posed that Luccheni told him once that he would kill 
some person of mark in order to at last be able to see 
his name printed in a newspaper, but that he had given 
this statement, made laughingly, no importance at the 
time when it was uttered. 

The jury had been appointed by drawing lots, and M. 
Moriaud, as I have said before, was acting as counsel 
for the defence. 

Luccheni persistently denied throughout the long 
trial having had any accomplices, but repeatedly de- 
clared that he was glad to have killed the Empress, 
adding, with an ugly scowl : 

" I did my utmost to succeed in the attempt, and I 
meant to kill the Empress, that is certain ! Human 
suffering is the motive of my act." 

Thereupon the president pointed out to him that he 
himself had never been in want, and could, therefore, 
have had no such motive in view. The prisoner rubbed 
his hands and, smiling blandly, replied : 

" On the day of my birth, or soon after, my mother 
herself renounced me ; that is enough of untold suffer- 
ing !" 

The public prosecutor delivered an eloquent address 
to the jury, laying stress upon the fact that Luccheni 
openly gloried in his crime, and that although he denied 
the existence of accomplices it was quite certain that 
he had been aided and abetted by other anarchists, 
which, however, in no sense diminished the full respon- 
sibility borne by Luccheni himself for a crime so odious 
that no words could describe the fulness of its horror. 
He said further that the time had passed for psycho- 
logical study of the anarchist breed, or for investigating 
the origin and the cause of so dreadful a movement. 
The time had come indeed, he thundered on, when 

282 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

society ought to get up en masse to annihilate and repress 
this ever-growing danger, this many-headed hydra which 
threatens to encompass in its many tentacles the entire 
system of our modern civilization. 

" Only a few weeks ago," said the public prosecutor, 
in conclusion, ^'in a dark vault under the Church of 
the Capuchin in Vienna, the grave closed forever upon 
the prisoner's victim. May it close as heavily to-night 
at Geneva on the footsteps of the murderer when he 
has crossed the threshold of our penal prison, and may 
he pass into everlasting oblivion. Let this be his pun- 
ishment." 

To the procureur's address the prisoner listened with 
the greatest attention. At one point, where M. Navazza 
alluded to the fact that the prisoner had attempted to 
escape from those who held him in arrest, Luccheni 
turned towards his counsel and exclaimed, with a great 
show of firmness, " That is not true !" 

Again, when the procureur pointed out that the late 
Empress had never concerned herself with politics, the 
accused remarked, in mocking tones, " She was always a 
worker, perhaps." The public prosecutor, commenting 
on this interruption, said that the prisoner's doctrine 
appeared to be that no one who did not work should be 
allowed to live, to which the prisoner responded loudly, 
" That's right." 

When M. Moriaud addressed the jury for the de- 
fence, he sought to minimize the prisoner's responsi- 
bility and attempted to move and touch his audience, 
and especially the jury, by theatrically appealing to the 
dead Empress's spirit, saying that from heaven, where 
she was now enthroned, she pitied her murderer, and 
that could she but do so, she would intercede for him, 
for during her life she had always pleaded the cause of 

283 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

the condemned and had obtained the pardon of many ! 
This magnificently pompous peroration fell rather flat, 
for in very justly exalting the virtues of the victim 
the worthy counsel entirely lost sight of the fact that 
he was emphasizing still more all the odiousness of the 
murderer's crime. There were at that moment murmurs 
and mutterings among his hearers, who had, until then, 
remained very quiet and peaceable. Baron Giskra, the 
representative of the Emperor of Austria, seemed deeply 
affected by the lawyer's allusion to the dead Empress, 
and changed color several times in rapid succession. 

Three questions were put to the jury : 1. Is Luccheni 
guilty of having assassinated the Empress ? 2. Did he 
act with premeditation ? 3. Did he lie in wait to commit 
the crime ? 

The jury retired to consider their verdict. After an 
absence of twenty minutes they brought in a reply to all 
three questions in the affirmative, finding no extenuating 
circumstances. 

The procureur - general then rose and demanded the 
penalty of imprisonment for life, whereupon the presi- 
dent asked the prisoner whether he had anything to say 
why this sentence should not be pronounced. Luccheni 
smilingly replied that he had nothing to add. 

The court retired to consider the sentence, but returned 
in a few minutes and imposed the full penalty allowed 
by the law of Switzerland — imprisonment for life. The 
prisoner, when the sentence was delivered, cried, " Long 
live anarchy ! Death to the aristocracy ! Let there be 
only two hundred such brave men as myself and all the 
thrones of the world will be empty !" Then, smiling 
serenely upon the assistants, he followed his escort of 
gendarmes out of the court-room. 

Luccheni is now in a subterranean cell reached by a 

284 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

staircase of twenty steps and a corridor so dark that the 
jailer who led him had to carry a lantern. At the end 
of the corridor is a strong door signed with the letter C. 
with a hole for air and light at the bottom. Then an- 
other yard of corridor and a second door, strong like the 
first, with holes at the t-op for light, which leads directly 
into the cell. This cell is without a window and is 
quite dark; on the ground a sack filled with straw, to 
serve for a seat by day and a bed by night. E"o other 
thing in the cell. Here the Empress's assassin is to pass 
the first six months of his imprisonment only, being taken 
out for a breath of fresh air once in every fortnight. 

He was transferred to his cell in the following fash- 
ion : A little before eleven o'clock at night, Luccheni, 
who was in a deep sleep, was awakened by M. Lafond, 
governor of the prison of St.-Antoine, and told to dress 
himself. Though aware of the fate in store for him, 
he had not been told of the date of his departure, and 
he was clearly much affected now that the hour had 
come. M. Lafond then explained to him the regula- 
tions to which he would be subjected. When informed 
that he would be allowed to receive visitors four times a 
year, and that he would be visited every week by the 
prison chaplain, Luccheni expressed his gratitude for 
these concessions. He was then intrusted to a guard of 
five gendarmes. Under their escort, and preceded by 
two warders carrying lanterns, he traversed on foot the 
short distance that separates the prison of St.-Antoine 
from that of the Eveche. The streets through which he 
passed were quite deserted, and in a few minutes he had 
reached his destination. At the gate of the Eveche he 
stood still for an instant, and cast an inquiring glance 
around as if in expectation of some sign that an effort 
was to be made to rescue him, but not a sound broke the 

285 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

silence, and his escort pressing him forward, he angrily 
shrugged his shoulders and entered the prison. After 
being made to put on the costume of prisoners con- 
demned to life sentences, he was conducted to a cell. 
He will remain in this prison until his death a mere 
number — No. 1144. 

This form of punishment needs no comments. Per- 
chance its advocates are right when they claim that 
it is far worse than capital punishment itself, for in 
the gloom of this sinister cell the mind of the caged 
assassin will need to be very strong indeed not to totter 
and fail him. Everlastingly upon the curtain of deep 
shadows which will press upon his sight he will see ap- 
pearing before him his beautiful victim, the woman he 
so odiously killed ; and upon his ears in that palpable, 
oppressive, w^ellnigh unbearable silence of dungeons will 
fall nothing but the imaginary sound of the sobs which 
his revolting deed has caused. He will then mayhap 
regret this deed so quickly executed, and for which there 
is no expiation possible. 

"There are swift hours in life — strong, rushing hours 
That do the work of tempests in their might !" 

And so no more of the fiend now entombed in the 
prison of the Eveche, excepting the heart-felt hope that 
he will now and hereafter reap his sowing. 

That may not sound like a very Christian wish, but 
one's softer and better feelings are apt to become 
weakened by the thought that the old Mosaic law was 
not applied, and that Luccheni escaped the Lex talio- 
nis of the ancients, be his present predicament ever so 
dreadful. 

And now, in the crypt of the Capuchin church, the 
Empress lies at rest till the consummation of time, side 

286 



THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS 

by side with her beloved son. The coflBn in which she 
was borne from Switzerland to Vienna has been placed in 
a sarcophagus of gold and silver, adorned by a large cross 
—the last she will ever bear— beneath which, framed in 
a beautifully chased garland of flowers and buds, the 
following inscription is engraved : 

" ELISABETH AMALIA EUGENIA, IMPERATRIX AUS- 
TRIAE ET REGINA HUNGARIAE, MAXIMILIANI JOSEPHI 
ETLUDOVICAE, DUCUM IN BAVARIA, FILIA. NATA IN 
VILLA POSSENHOFEN DIE XXIV. MENSIS DECEMBRIS 
ANNI MDCOCXXXVII. NUPTA FRANCISCO - JOSEPHO I. 
IMPERATORI VINDOBONAE DIE XXIV. M. APRILIS A. 
MDCCCLIV. CORONATA REGINA, BUDAE DIE VIII. M. 
JUNII A. MDCCCLXVII. DENATA GENEVAE DIE X. M. 
SEPTEMBRIS A. MDCCCXCVIII. H. S. E." 



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